100 days of Mother Earthbound
by Duwee Davis II
Summary: 100 days in the universe of Mother/Earthbound! Three quarters of the way! I genuinely didn't think I'd get this far, but I have! Enjoy!
1. Intro

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

An intro:

This is an 100-chapter story, each with a single-word theme per chapter. There's no flowing story, but lots of unrelated incidents, all within the mother/earthbound universe.

I got the idea from Galadriadhar's 100 days of Super Paper Mario, and I know the concept is unoriginal. The stories, however, will be, but I just want him to know he's an excellent writer, and I have immense respect for him... but yeah.

Enjoy this, I hope it turns out well.


	2. 001: Ascent

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

001: Ascent

Dr Andonuts thought hard, while rolling the Absolutely Safe Capsule to and fro. He thought harder than he ever did on any invention of his.

All of a sudden, he began to speak... to himself... about his recent achievements.

"I must say, I've come a long way. I- I... I remember when I was working with... Apple Kid. Fantastic young man. Wonderful. He's... probably long dead now. And Jeff... my s-s-s-s-s"

Andonuts stopped talking, and began weeping. He hysterically cried, knowing that only Porky was around him, and he was in a sound-proof capsule. But even the greatest scientists can 'know' something completely wrong.

A familiar, yet much deeper than when he remembered, voice came to his attention. Flint bobbed his hat... "Do... do I know you?" Flint asked "You seem awfully sad... do you think that C-C-C-Claus will pull the last needle?"

"It isn't that... I'm much more selfish. I'm grieving the loss of my normal life. But... you seem familiar... wait..." Dr Andonuts paused. "You're Ness! You survived the end of the world! Ness! I remember when you wore a baseball cap!"

"Um... my name is Flint... but the name Ness rings a bell. Anyway, I've got to help my sons."

At that, Dr Andonuts started shrieking with grief for Jeff, as he knew that his son was dead. He had the uncontrollable crying ailment, you could say. But, once again, no-one was listening. Flint, or Ness, had gone to see Claus one last time.

Suddenly, a guy with a hat came to see the quivering, hiccoughing wreck of a man, and said "I do more than just store Items. I'll listen to you... what do you have on your mind?"

"Oh... *sniff*... you're that guy with the kart."

"I am. Now, what's bothering you?"

"Well... I'm not from this time period. I am from the past. I wanted to work with a wonderful young man named Apple Kid, and with the Mr Saturns, and make the world a better place. I wanted to see my son, Jeff, grown up and strong, and just as smart as I. But then Porky took me away from that normality and forced me to work for him. I hate the little brat!" Dr Andonuts stopped talking to kick the Absolutely Safe Capsule, then punch it, then kick it again. He screamed to the sphere "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!

YOU RUINED MY LIFE! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW, YOU SNOT NOSED PUNK! CAN YOU!" He stopped, gasping for air. The Item guy, staring in shock and pity, simply said "You're not wrong to feel this way."

"Thanks for listening. But I guess I have one thing to thank Porky for. He proved that my prototype Phase Distorter worked, and he gave me an opportunity to help save the world by being so evil. I guess, that he helped me ascend to greater things than just mere curiosity and trivial science."

"I see. Well, it's been an eye-opening experience for me... all of a sudden, I feel like I've come of the dark, and into the..."

A huge earthquake occurred, and the world went pitch black. Both Dr Andonuts and the item guy fell over and fumbled around in the darkness.

"...light."


	3. 002: Descent

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

002: Descent

"*whirr* Not to get personal, Master Giegue, but I think you are letting your emotions get the better of you again..."

"Arrrrrrrgh! Shut up, Starman DX! If you dare mention... love... or any other emotion to me again, I'll kill you! And don't think I won't! I'm invincible, and you don't know my weakness."

"But Master, you failed last invasion because of your... *click*... emotional difficulties..."

"That's it, you're life shall be ripped from you!" Giegue raised his white, fingerless hand, and concentrated. Starman DX flinched... but then realized his master was crying.

"I don't understand, Master. You... will kill me, won't you?"

"I can't do it... I care for my Starman army. Arrrrrgh! I hate my emotions! I despise them! Get out, your life is spared!"

"Thank you, Mast..."

"GET OUT BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!" And with that, the Starman teleported out of Giegue's control room. Giegue couldn't get over it. Why did he have to be raised by someone who cared? What was the point in giving him love as a child, but knowing there'd be no place for it in his adult life?

He hated how he cared for people. Even his Great great nephew, Ninten, the one who played on his emotions for his planet's selfish benefits, he cared for greatly.

Take a melody,  
Simple as can be  
Give it some words and  
Sweet harmony

Raise your... NO! NO! NO!

Giegue had grown tired of this. He figured that the only way to get rid of these emotions of love were to... destroy them, with pure evil. Under a new name, Giygas, he would go on a personal journey to gain evil power.

He had located a cave, one with a massive aura of evil. He found a cave within that, and what was in there was unsavoury.

A tangled, pink, organic mass of horrific machinery lay before him. Giygas approached gingerly, feeling fear for the first time. He reached the porthole, a trapezium made of mangled tubes made of flesh. The sphere in the centre showed an image Giygas was all-too familiar with... his white, cat-like face. He asked the machine "Who is this?"

"Why... I'm Lucifer..."

"I'm not familiar with that name... are you the inventor of pure evil?"

"Yes, but you may have heard me under several names. I am Satan, the Devil, Hades, Pluto, Iblis, Ravanah, and... your worst nightmare."

"Why are you in this machine?"

"To contain my power... my mind is slightly faulty since I became all-powerful and evil, so I made this to contain it, and thus retain my... sanity."

Giygas couldn't help but think all of Satan's sanity had left him "So... you're far more powerful than this, in your true form?"

"Yes, and much more erratic. In fact, I don't know how I'd fare without this thing... but what do you want, anyway? A bit of evil power? What, eh?"

"I want ALL of your evil power."

"Ha... the only way you'll get that is if you kill me... which you'll never do. Ha ha ha..."

"Oh really?" And with that, Giygas used PSI turn-off-the-devil's-machine. The result was catastrophic.

"Where where where where where is is is is is is here here here?" A confused and now mindless Satan asked. Giygas realized this was a bad idea. He used his greatest, most inexplicable attack, and struck Satan's undulating face. The Devil flickered, and screamed, and the battle began.

"I hate hate God God God. He took my my my my my my Garden of Eden away from from ME ME ME MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Satan babbled. Giygas used a containment forcefield, generated by his will alone, and compressed Lucifer. He then used PSI freeze repeatedly inside the forcefield until the traumatized Devil stopped talking.

Giygas thought. All that's left inside that forcefield is pure evil... but if he were to absorb it now, he'd be erratic, just like Satan before him... he'd have to find someone to seal him inside the now empty Devil's Machine to make sure his mind remained intact.

Note: Ain't the transition between Giegue and Giygas interesting? I think it's one of the most interesting aspects of the Mother series.


	4. 003: Alliegiance

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

003: Allegiance

Ness was getting impatient. This lesson was taking too long. Was this seriously high-school for the next 5 years? It was so boring! But, Pokey was in his class, and secretly, Ness liked his jokes.

"And so this is why you must keep every variable other than the independent and dependant variables constant. Do you know what these variables are called?"

"Aloysius! Lardna! Bob! Ness! Picky! No? Oh miss, do tell *snicker*." Pokey shouted.

"Enough Pokey. Anyone have any... real answers."

"I don't know about the constants, but Pokey's definitely the dependant variable... I'm going to punch his face, and see how it affects him." the class bully, Jack said. True to his word, Jack punched the pig-like boy square on in the face. Pokey, surprisingly unaffected by the blow, simply said "Sorry for... being a jerk... and all..." while backing off towards the wall.

The teacher tried to stop the fight, and told Jack to leave him be. Jack wasn't in a mood for listening, however, and threw a punch towards Pokey. Quick as ever, Pokey used the class nerd as a shield, and ran out of the class. Jack was quick to follow, and soon a crowd gathered in the corridors. Kids of all classes surrounded the pair, chanting "Fight, fight, fight, fight ,fight, fight, fight, fight." Jack charged at Pokey in a rage, and seemed to have forgotten the original reason he attacked him. Pokey got hurt, and played dead. Jack, in confusion, thought he'd won. He kicked Pokey, to check, and Pokey continued to be a possum about it.

And just as he thought of an ingenious way to make sure Pokey was unconscious, he himself became unconscious. Ness had Smaaaaaaaaashed the back of Jack's head with his favourite cracked bat. Pokey got up, and the crowd, in disappointment, dissipated.

"Ness... you saved me in my hour of need. You're a good neighbour, you know that?" Pokey admitted.

"It was nothing, Pokey. Do you want to be friends, even though our fathers are enemies?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's be friends forever."


	5. 004: Betrayal

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

004: Betrayal

The Nowhere islands were all too quiet without the Osohe dynasty... the world would continue to ignore these islands until the very end.

Meanwhile, the Magypsies were trying to think of a way to keep the needles safe. Modia, the Magypsy leader, was waiting for the others. Only Doria had arrived at her pink shell on Mount Itoi. "Hmmm... Doria hon, I don't suppose you know what's taking all my darling Magypsies so long to teleport here? "

"No, Modia, but maybe they are taking their time with their lipstick?"

"Maybe. You know, Locria has been acting funny recently, hasn't she?"

"That's HE!" Locria shouted, still pitch black from teleporting. "I've told you to call me as if I'm male! We're not any gender, so I have the right to act like a man!"

"Nice of you to join us, Locria . Busy day?" Modia greeted.

"Oh, not really. You know, I've just been... hanging around in UTTER DARKNESS like you told me to. Why did you send me there?"

"Well, someone has to, hon. Anyway, when the others arrive, you, and Doria are in for a surprise..." Phrygia, Lydia, and Mixolydia suddenly appeared.

Modia smiled "Well hello, ladies. Doria and Locria here beat you to it! Oh well, this isn't a competition. Missy, how are you enjoying Tanetane Island?"

"I enjoy the feeling I get when I help the people who are tripping on mushrooms... I love saving their lives." Mixolydia chirped. Locria scowled, as he was thinking about how little satisfaction he got from his living place. How come everyone got to pick their shell's location? No-one wanted to go to the dark place, but someone had to... but why him? Was it because he used his razor more than his lipstick? His thoughts were interrupted by Aeolia and Ionia appearing.

"Aeolia! Ionia! Why so late, darlings? Even sleepy old Phrygia here decided to make it before you. Now then, I have something important to tell you." All of the hustle and bustle of re-united Magypsies suddenly stopped, and Locria stopped scowling and paid attention.

"Do you know why the Osohe royal family left the Nowhere Islands?" Modia rhetorically questioned the Magypsies. "Yes, because of the Needles. They feared the Dark Dragon- and so should we. Now, we could live eternally... and hope the Nowhere Islands are all right when the humans need them, or, we could guard them. That's why I let you choose your lodgings- so then, if all went well, it'd be easy to assign you to your needle... which is why I had to move you, Locria. I know you love the desert, but... maybe pitch black will grow on you. Plus, you get a special job... your needle is most probably the last one to be pulled, if someone should do so... so try to enjoy it, love . Your lives will become entwined with your needles... Aeolia, you must guard the Needle in the Osohe's castle courtyard. Doria, your needle is in the east of the Nowhere islands. Lydia, your needle is on Snowcap Mountain. Phrygia, yours is inside Fire Mountain. Mixolydia, yours is on Tanetane Island, and Ionia, yours is inside Chupichupyoi Temple. Finally, Locria, yours is in a terribly dark place... try not to lose sight of your needle. As you may know, each Needle isn't that far from where you, and now that you'll die with your needle... you should guard it with your life... and I don't know, make something to stop intruders."

"But what about you, Modia?" Ionia asked "What will you do?"

"Well, my purpose as your leader is... over. I guess I'll have to disappear... so long "

And with that, Modia was gone...

"We should probably... make a toast to her..." Doria suggested.

"Well, we are named after the modal scales." Locria replied "My guess is we should make a musical ode to Modia, and honour her life..."

"I always saw you as the black sheep, Locria, but I totally agree with you. Lets do just that." Aeolia added. And with that, Aeolia took out a violin, Doria took out a viola, Lydia a cello, Phrygia a contrabass, Mixolydia another cello, Ionia a conductor's baton, and Locria, a pair of musical horns.

Ionia started waving her right hand in a 4/4 beat motion, and Aeolia, Doria, Lydia, and Phrygia bowed their stringed instruments in perfect harmony, while Mixolydia plucked on her cello strings. Locria waited 10 beats, and then played a beautiful horn solo. They had reached their creative limit on the solo in about a minute, but kept repeating their song until the sun set on Mount Itoi.


	6. 005: Crying

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

005: Crying

Kumatora and Duster, both happily married (much to the happiness of the 500 Kumatora-Duster shippers), were now 49 and 56, respectively. They realised their age gap no longer mattered... at this age.

One day, Kumatora decided to ask Duster a bold question. "Duster..."

"Yes, honey?"

"Don't call me that!" Kumatora shouted for the millionth time "Anyway. You know when the last needle was pulled..."

"Um... I think this is gonna be important... so can it wait? I found something... and put it in this box." Duster took the box out of his pocket, and opened it. Kumatora gazed at the contents, and then realized its significance.

"I see. Well, we should probably put it where it belongs." Kumatora eventually said after a 2 minute silence. So the couple went to Tazmily Cemetery, and looked at the row of new graves.

Alec

Father of Hinawa

Grandfather of Claus and Lucas

Much appreciated Father-in-law to Flint

Wess

Father and Master to Duster

Thief of Justice

Aeolia

Red Magypsy

Guardian of Osohe Castle's Needle

Buried with her rose hip tea

Doria

Violet Magypsy

Guardian of her garden's Needle

Buried with the Bucket Brothers

Lydia

Yellow Magypsy

Guardian of Snowcap Mountain's needle

Buried with her favourite warm drink

Phrygia

Orange Magypsy

Guardian of Fire Mountain's Needle

Buried in her bed

Mixolydia

Blue Magypsy

Guardian of Tanetane Island's Needle

Buried with her Chamomile Tea

Ionia

Green Magypsy

Guardian of Chupichupyoi Temple's Needle

Buried with her sour drink

Locria

...Indigo Magypsy?

Guardian of the Needle in the Dragon's head

Locria... that was the one they wanted. Kumatora looked at Duster. Duster nodded, but said "But we'll need to dig the grave if we want to put it in..."

"Don't worry! They didn't put a corpse of Locria in there... Magypsies don't have corpses... the worst you'll see is a bad looking lipstick."

"I guess..." Duster and Kumatora began to dig. This was it. They tenderly lay the tiny box into the hole they had just made, and made sure the Razor and Lipstick were right next to the box. They then quickly filled the hole.

"So... what was it you wanted to ask me, Kuma?"

"You know when everything went dark... and you said that it was the first time you saw me cry?"

"Yeah."

"You were chatting out your arse! You full well know that enemies we fought one our little quest from years ago occasionally made me cry uncontrollably... and you said it was only once I cried that you realized how cute I was! Well, why didn't you notice it the other times, huh?"

"Sorry... I had... a thing for you for a while before... I just thought you'd like me if I said that... it seemed like a lovely... caring, romantic-type thing to do..."

"Oh well. You daft sod! You are one-of-a-kind, Duster! Now, for one last thing to add..." With her mystical gloves, Kumatora began to scrawl writing into Locria's gravestone.

Locria

...Indigo Magypsy?

Guardian of the Needle in the Dragon's head

...buried with his beloved Pet Mouse.


	7. 006: Strangeness

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

006: Strangeness

Ness awoke in Saturn Valley. He didn't know how, but he was alive. Much to his joy, Paula, Jeff and Poo, were all equally unharmed. Ness felt the franklin badge on his chest, marvelled at how it managed to travel with his soul somehow. He smiled, and then stood up. After opening the three random gift boxes from the sky (all containing letters), Ness decided to make a somewhat odd query.

He asked a Mr Saturn "How is it that you make machines... and climb ladders... without any arms or hands?"

"M3 L37 y0u 1n 0n S0m37H1ng Sp3c1aL anD S3cr37... W3 kn0W p0W3r..."

"What kind of power?"

"B1111111111g p0W3r B01ng. 17 caLL3D..."

"17 caLL3D PS1... FaV0ur173 7H1ng..."

"PSI... Favourite thing?"

"Y0u kn0W y0ur PS1 r0ck1ng? W3 HaV3. W33333333333333 HaV3. Bu7 W3 n4m3 PS1 P1ggy J3LLy D1ng. PS1 P1ggy J3LLy S1gma. 17 n0 Hur7. 17 JuS7 mak3 L1F3 3aS13r. GraBS Wha7 W3 can'7. G00D13!"

"PSI Piggy Jelly Sigma... cool." Ness turned to Paula, who clearly wanted to be walked home... or warped home in Ness' case.

"Paula, you'll never guess what I've just learned... the Mr Saturns know PSI!"

"I've only heard you say Yes and No throughout our journey, and that was the strangest thing ever. Call that a meaningful first sentence?"

"Well I thought it was... what's up with you? Mad because I turned out to be totally useless against Giygas? What? What?"

"Never mind... it's just that time. Let's go home."

Note: Did you like last chapter, you Kumatora-Duster shippers? I myself don't care... but I did that chapter because I needed some device to get the subject onto Kumatora's 'first' cry.

Hope you could cope with my version of Saturnian for ?


	8. 007: Numbness

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

007: Numbness

"Dad, I don't want to do thief training today!"

"Listen, Duster, if you don't learn these skills, who will help save the Nowhere Islands if any trouble happens?"

"You."

"No, Duster. I'll be too old... or even dead when that time comes. Just train!"

"Fine..." Duster finally relinquished. He sullenly asked "What are we doing today, Master Wess?"

"That's more like it... today we're climbing. You got your Wall Staples?"

"Yeah."

"Well, let's go to a cliff... you shall scale it. You can pick which cliff." So Wess and Duster set out, in the middle of the night, and found a cliff just north of Tazmily cemetery.

"Excellent choice, Duster. If we get familiar with the terrain of Osohe Castle, our infiltration will be flawless when the time comes! Now, all you have to do is spin, get out two Wall Staples, and stick them in a softer part of the cliff and repeat these steps- but without the spin. Although some people sleep, phone someone, and press a button to make the ladder, and secure with their hands... but we don't have a phone, so this'll have to do."

Duster span and got out two Wall Staples, and stuck them in the cliff face just as Wess instructed, and proceeded to form a climbable ladder all the way up the rocky surface. Wess was proud. "Duster! You're not a moron!" he shouted upwards.

"Thanks Dad, uh... Master Wess!" Duster shouted back.

"Now climb down the ladder, and you can sleep."

"Okay." Duster was stoked. Over the moon. He climbed downwards with joy, but this soon turned to fear as a Wall staple came loose with Duster's weight. He no longer had a foothold- and was clinging for dear life.

"Duster! You moron! You didn't secure the staples properly! Okay, don't panic... just... stretch you leg out to the next staple below you, and when you're confidant, let go with your hands..."

"Dad... I... can't... do... this... my... arms... are... too... weak... and... my... speech... is...full... of... dots..." And with that, Duster fell.

After hours of darkness, light finally came to be in Duster's eyes, and Wess was standing over him. "God. What if I aren't there to save you next time? You need to improve. Alright. You are retraining this tomorrow. Now go to your bed and sleep."

Duster attempted to get up, but failed. "Dad... my leg feels... funny..."

"Oh, it can't be anything too bad..." Wess approached Duster, and felt his right leg. "Oh my... Duster. I'm afraid that this leg will be like this forever. I may have a way to make it not hurt... just wait..." Wess left, and returned with a mini-thunder bomb. "This will keep your leg numb. It's not a cure, but it'll help you walk on the injured leg." Wess put the explosive in Duster's right trouser, and then lit the fuse. "Here goes nothing..."

The explosion caused Duster to scream, and jerked his right leg back and forth. Then, after that episode, Duster got up.

"Dad... I feel... okay. My leg... it's not... the same... but I can walk! Thank you Dad, oh thank you thank you thank you!"

"It's alright... son." Wess said, knowing he shouldn't have accepted thanks for an injury caused by his training.


	9. 008: Sleep

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

008: Sleep

Giegue was flying through space. Nothing could stop him. All his Starman companions were friendly, and his adoptive mother was with him. He landed on a strange planet, knowing he'd invade it.

All the warriors of that planet chattered and looked to one another in fear, and Giegue let out a child-like squeal of delight. This was the happiest day of his life... his first conquest. The aliens suddenly parted, and one huge alien tank smashed through Giegue's confidence. It shot a huge ball of explosive plasma, but it was soon blocked by a PSI-Shield formed by Giegue. Giegue smirked as Starmen caused Starstorms and Beams and Thunder to rain on the enemy, and all the aliens ran in fear. The tank, however, withstood it, and fired another blast of superheated gas.

The shield was gradually getting broken, and Giegue was beginning to sense that his inexplicable attack would be needed. For a split second, he dropped the shield, and his patchwork PSI ripped the alien tank to pieces. The battle was over... however one plasma blast DID hit his army...

Giegue checked for deaths, and casualties, and Life-Upped anyone that needed Lifing up. But there was one casualty that wouldn't be healable... Maria was lying motionless on the floor. Giegue felt a sting in his heart... and wanted to scream his loss... but couldn't. Then all of reality went black, and Giegue woke up screaming.

Maria ran up to see the tormented alien in his bed. "What's wrong, Giegue?"

"Mummy! Mummy! I love you! Please don't die..."

"Oh... had a bad dream? Well, it's okay, I'm here now... now how about I get you back to sleep?"

Giegue knew, and loved, the words to this lullaby...

"Take a melody,  
Simple as can be  
Give it some words and  
Sweet harmony  
Raise your voices,  
All day long our love grows strong now  
Sing a melody of love  
Oh, love

Love is the power  
Love is the glory  
Love is the beauty  
And the joy of spring

Love is the magic  
Love is the story  
Love is the melody  
We all can sing"

Giegue had stopped half-way through. But Maria didn't move, and hugged the alien as it slept.


	10. 009: Nausea

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

009: Nausea

Master Belch was your typical pile of vomit- absolutely disgusting in every way. Being an animate one as well added to his repulsiveness. Ever since his siege of Threed and Saturn Valley, Master Belch was living the high life, and enjoying Mr Saturn-made Fly Honey with his brethren, the slimy little piles.

Everything had gone to plan, and two of the heroes said to be the ones who will conquer Giygas were imprisoned. And it's not as if the prison was an obvious place. Belch had succeeded. "*Buuuuuuuurp*. Hey, that ain't for you, whelp!" Belch somehow snatched a HUGE jar of fly honey off a smaller pile of puke. "I get the big jars... now... go and... keep watch or something. I want to enjoy this, and I'll feel bad with you watching."

"Uh... yes, my liege."

"Sweet, sweet, fly honey, how amorous you are! Oh how *snaffle* *snarf* wonderful you are..."

About an hour later, Master Belch left his room and noticed an odd-shaped USB device. Master Belch didn't have a computer, but he knew a slimy little pile that did.

"Hey, you! Phil, you got a computer right?"

"Right."

"Well, I've found this thing. Stick in in the computer and show me what's on it."

"Yes, sir."

So they trailed to Phil's house. Phil inserted the USB stick into the PC, and checked the contents.

"Oh... there's lots of videos on here... OH! They're all I M Meen Youtube poops! I love these!"

"You... tube... poops?"

"Yeah, boss! They're so funny. Just watch. Oh, this seems funny- I M Liar."

So Master Belch watched as some seemingly magical, child-hating librarian danced around and contradicted himself. He stared in horror at the... unprofessional, yet accurate sentence mixing... the... stupidity of it all.

"Uh, Phil, can I use your bathroom?"

"Sure."

"Cos I'm gonna be sick... I M Meen makes my stomach turn."


	11. 010: Diamondization

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

010: Diamondization

A deer ran through the deep darkness. And so did the wolf pursuing the deer.

It had been chasing this damn deer all over Chommo, and thought this would be a perfect time to finish it... while it was suffering in the hazardous swamp water. But while the wolf was lost in thought, the deer disappeared.

Well, that sucked. But then he saw something- a straight give-away. A tick at the opening of a cave. That was it... the deer had gone through there.

Meanwhile, the deer had sneaked underground through an underground dungeon. It suddenly heard the wolf's aggressive growl. So it ran and ran and ran, until it reached an odd room. An otherworldly sound startled the deer, and caused it to fall into a hole.

The wolf wasn't to be put off, though. He carried on doggedly pursuing the deer, and didn't care what he'd have to do... he was eating today.

His attitude suddenly changed when he bumped into a huge, purple dinosaur. And this one wasn't as friendly as the well known purple dinosaur. Suddenly the hunter had become the hunted, and this chase was now a run for his life. The wolf finally found a cave, a dark, lava filled one. And, the wolf had another thing to be glad about- the deer had chosen the same hiding spot from the dinosaurs.

It was next to a very strangely dressed human. The human glared at the deer, and simply said "PK Fire!" and the deer was up in flames. The wolf was put right off deer- it was weird to see what cooked deer looked like- and he hated the smell. But his train of thought crashed as the human shouted "Hey, wolf! I am THE Major Psychic Psycho... run away if you know what's good for you."

The human had some nerve. So the wolf dived at the human, and bit it until it stopped moving. Self defence... it's not like humans are tasty.

But the wolf did need SOME food, so he ate what he could. He felt an odd energy emanating through and from his body, and felt really invigorated. He suddenly felt an urge, one so powerful, he had to act it out. He travelled through all of the smaller caves in the dark, lava-covered place, and reached the top. There, he heard... noises. And... what seemed to be... the end of a tune.

He thought he saw something, and sniffed around and howled and chased the nothing he was seeing, until, he realized he'd fallen into the fiery spring overlooking the cave.

But the wolf wasn't dead... he was... just confused, and... much stiffer, more heat resistant, and more... black. He realised he would never live a normal wolf's life again... that it was his fate to guard the place that changed him... for the rest of his life. Fire spring's very own Carbon Dog.


	12. 011: Mortality

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

010: Mortality

Master Porky watched through the cold glass windows of the absolutely safe capsule as the world descended into absolute darkness. He'd won. The world was trapped in eternal darkness. He and the dragon were the only things on the planet. His adorable little monster had succeeded.

But, all of a sudden, Porky felt a strange, new feeling. A twinge in his heart... one that over 10000 years, he had never experienced. It wouldn't go away either. A niggling... painful emotion had caught him. As if all at once, Porky realized what it was he was feeling.

Guilt. He was feeling guilt.

The shining young face of that blonde-haired boy... the dead eyes that looked at him when the masked man was first brought to life... the beautiful forest creatures he'd carelessly ravaged and now destroyed... they were all haunting him. The world, in all its yearning and sadness, entered the Absolutely safe capsule and lingered with Porky. His conscience didn't die with everything else.

All of a sudden, Porky had a startling revelation. He will never experience death. Porky began to wonder if... perhaps... there was an afterlife... if there was a heaven and hell, or if he'd get reincarnated. But there's nothing left to reincarnate to. Porky had got what he wanted... for that time. But now he didn't want it. Now he wanted to be with his mother, and with Ness, and even... with Giygas.

He wondered what happened to Giygas... whether he'd go to heaven. Porky didn't know much about the alien, but knew that Giygas wasn't inherently evil... he just seemingly forced himself down that path.

Porky yearned for death more than anything now. Even if there was no afterlife, at least he wouldn't be stuck here suffering. This was torture. Why did he do this? The reality smacked Porky in the face. He was immature. He made a wrong decision. He didn't apply the 10000 years of experience he'd gained.

But nothing could be done. That damn Dr Andonuts made the capsule eternally locked. And now no-one was alive. Until Porky felt a push... this wasn't Andonuts... the darkness killed him... or did it...

No. No. Lucas can't have pulled the needle. NO! NO!

But then Porky realised. That was for the best. If life continues, he could get reincarnated. All at once, Porky became a Buddhist, and hoped Karma would be lenient. Then, with all his frail strength... he head butted the edge of the Absolutely safe capsule. His soft skull shattered, and the 10000 years of warped life ended.

As it happens, Porky was reincarnated as a Yammomonster.


	13. 012: Red

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

012: Red

Aeolia knew well that this party would be fantastic. All here petite, pretty sweets were out, and Rose Hip Tea was in all seven cups. Aeolia liked to hope the seventh one would be used... at some point.

As the other Magypsies arrived, in order of distance, from Ionia, then Doria, Lydia and Phrygia, and finally Mixolydia. The party began, and almost all the Magypsies nattered away about... Magypsy things.

They discussed about 'the time' and about the missing Locria, and about the elusive PK Love. A lot of time was being made up for, not that the Magypsies thought that. Seventy years is nothing... to them.

But just as the buffet was starting to be eaten, a young-looking, ginger-haired human entered the Pink Shell. Aeolia, sitting, as always, crossed her legs, and then welcomed the human.

"Hello, rambunctious boy! Why are you here on this fine day?"

"I wanna be so strong, that Dragos can't stop me! I wanna know that... power thing you know!"

Aeolia paused... she would need to check if the boy could learn PSI, let alone master it. But at the same time, she was unwilling to move from her chair.

"Ionia, hon... can you... run a... check... on this boy..."

"Sure, Aeolia. Just stand still, little guy..." Ionia touched Claus' forehead, and sensed... a lot of power from this boy... particularly electrical-based. Ionia let the child go, and then whispered back to Aeolia

"The child can learn PK Love... and PK Thunder Iota! We should definitely teach this human!"

Aeolia turned to Claus "Look here, human. A thunderbolt will hit you, but it won't hurt. Afterwards, you'll feel... feverish. Walk it off, and you should be able to shoot electricity from the sky at will... this won't take up your... psychic points, as they're called. This is unique to you, incredibly. Your other power is a special power called PK Love- even us Magypsies don't have a clue how to do it. You will be able to beat the Drago with these powers... as long as you concentrate... okay, here goes..."

Amazingly enough, lightening fell from Aeolia's ceiling, and struck Claus. The child got up, shook off the damage, and walked off. He turned to Aeolia, and said weakly "Thanks. I'll come back here when I kill the Drago. I hope to see all you others, too! Bye!" And then the child left.

Doria turned to Aeolia. "Are you sure we should've let him go like that?"

"Sure, Doria, darl. Even if he can't use PSI well, the child won't die... I know it... fate just tells me won't die... yet."

"But fate also said that Locria would visit us every now and then..."


	14. 013: Orange

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

013: Orange

After an exhausting walk from Aeolia's house, Phrygia needed to rest. She also needed to write out a note for that human that knows PK Love, and unfortunately for her, that took precedence. So Phrygia sat down, picked up a piece of paper, and began to write. But, sounds were distracting her. She heard horns playing outside, which were followed by a voice that said "Okay, Fassad, I'll wait outside. But, if you do need any help speaking, you will bring me in, right?" Horns played afterwards... suddenly Phrygia felt a presence that she hadn't felt in a while... Locria!

The door opened, and someone vaguely resembling Locria entered. Phrygia stared at her long-lost friend. "Locria! W-w-what happened, hon?"

Locria played a melody on his horns.

"Oh... good thing we can communicate telepathically... but why would someone throw you off a cliff?"

Locria trumpeted angrily.

"Eh... figures. Anyway, hows the needle?"

Locria played a saddened and confused tune.

"So... you just... lost it? Oh, poor you. I wish someone else could've taken the dark place..."

Locria played an irate-sounding melody, and then a farewell tune.

"See you, Locria! I'll tell the other Magypsies you called! Byebee!"

Locria simply played an accented d-minor third with his two horns, and left. Phrygia continued to listen, and heard the other voice saying "Do you feel better after visiting your friend, Fassad?"

The horns continued to play melancholically. Fassad? Why was Locria calling himself Fassad? Why was he wearing a white and brown outfit? And why was reconstructed in such a hideous way? At least he still looked like he loved luxury bananas...

Phrygia would never get to sleep with all this work and questions running through our mind...


	15. 014: Yellow

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

014: Yellow

Lydia had finally created a hutch for the snow bunnies she cared so much for. If only she could put the rabbits in now... they were away for some reason.

All of a sudden, a huge flock of... every snow animal one could think of... came running towards Lydia and her hutch. Thankfully Lydia was wearing her lipstick, and flipped herself in a way that made her seem two-dimensional. She was unharmed, but the hutch wasn't... but why would animals stampede like that? It's not as if there's any threats up here in the...

BOOM!

Several strange flying vehicles flew towards Lydia and her house, then up, and over. Then, from around the corner, a human wearing a blue uniform and a pig-like mask ran, shouting "Hey, you forgot me! Come back! I can't stay here! It's cold! It's..." but before he could finish his rant, a chilly dog attacked the disorientated man. While on the floor, the Pigmask shot his beam gun over and over, but the efforts proved futile, and he soon fell unconscious. Lydia, looking on, eventually decided it was best to help the poor thing.

The Chilly Dog seeming mused a growl to itself, and began to tuck in. But, as if she wasn't the dainty Magypsy she was, Lydia used PK Fire mercilessly on the wolf until it ran away.

Lydia then dragged the Pigmask home, and drank some of her warm drink. What was he doing here? Why did the others leave him?

Was he good? Was he bad? Oh well. It didn't matter. The Pigmask was now safe in Lydia's bed.

Once night time fell, Lydia realised she couldn't just kick a man who's out cold onto the floor- nope, that would be LYDIA'S sleeping spot. Thankfully, her bunnies had come in for the shelter, and they kept her nice and toasty. All of a sudden, Lydia began to think about Locria... what he was doing... where he was... she wished she knew. All she knew was that he definitely didn't want to speak to any of the Magypsies... at least she thought she knew. She couldn't help but think that the public was right... the Locria was a bad person, who was bitter towards life. Why?

Oh well, Lydia needed to stop this thinking. Locria could be vanished for all she knew. Lydia proposed to herself a great idea... actually getting some sleep.

Author's note: It's okay. You can review this story. And you don't have to be positive. Feel free to constructively criticise my work. Note the word constructively. Don't just flame or troll, but say how I could improve my writing style... I find that sometimes I fall into using the same phrases and whatnot. Any help would be welcomed.


	16. 015: Green

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

015: Green

Argilla pass was getting more and more desolate by day. Even though there was no people to evacuate to the city here, Ionia could sense an emptiness.

She hoped Alec was alright... not left to rot. For some reason she'd always had a soft spot for that human. Ionia thought it was only right to go to Tazmily village. Check on the humans which WERE left. But, sadly, her lipstick had reached it's end. She couldn't fly there... she'd have to walk (twice in the same decade... what terrible luck). And Ionia hadn't set foot in the caves she was supposed to have monitored for years. Which way was it again?

Ionia figured all roads led to Rome. Eventually she found herself on a plateau. She must have made it... right?

Wrong. All that was around was a huge drop and another cave entrance... surely this cave would lead to Tazmily? Maybe not.

But what were all these animate and over-affectionate bombs? And what's with that surprisingly weak metal monkey who seems to give an enjoyable experience to people. Ionia was lost. "I guess even Magypsies lose their way..." Ionia mused.

Inside one of the caves lied a very sad looking yellow cuboid. "Um... are you all right?"

"It's always the same."

"What are you talking about schnookums?" Ionia chirped, trying to lighten the depressing and tense mood.

"There's just no way I can win."

"Oh, come now. Everyone gets down sometimes... but you've got to let whatever it is that's making you sad go..." Ionia's speech, no matter how comforting it was, didn't affect the negative man. He just started wailing, and screaming hysterically.

"Come now, come now..."

"It's always the same..."

"True, I did repeat my words, but so did you..."

"Life is but a meaningless grain of sand..."

"I know, I know. I am a Magypsy, after all... the second to last left..."

"How do you know that you're next?" the now intrigued Negative Man asked.

"Simple... I'm easier to find than Locria! Even I don't know where he is..."

"Oh... you lost someone too? That's why I hate life."

"Really? Well, I've formed attachments to plenty of humans in my time, and they've all died of old age... while I've stayed young and watched on..."

"Oh... uh... that kind of makes me feel better... for some reason."

"So, er... are you going to leave this cave, and stop crying?"

"No. I'll wait 'til the player gets to see me. He'll like me as a rare, yet pathetic, side-quest enemy. I wanna be remembered by the player and Youtube, and the whole Mother 3 fan community! For being depressed!"

"I guess that the only you're positive about is being negative, then... see you, and I'll probably not come back. The time is soon..."


	17. 016: Blue

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

016: Blue

"Oh, wonderful! Wonderful!" Mixolydia shouted. "Ocho, guess what?"

"What, Missy?"

"I'm getting to guard a neeeeeedle!" Mixolydia replied in song. "Oh, but where to start? We can't just have any old guy getting to the needle..."

"Why not make something?"

"Like?"

"A barrier... or something."

"Ocho! You genius you!" Mixolydia stopped talking to kiss Ocho on the cheek. "I could make some living barriers... which know PSI! Ha, I'm wonderful! And you're wonderful too, Ocho hon! Ha ha ha! Lets get to work."

So while Ocho started moulding some Tanetanian clay, Mixolydia read her big old book of spells (she knew this made her seem like a stereotypical witch, but she didn't care).

"Ah, Ocho... have you moulded one yet?"

"Um, yeah... I call him Barrier Man. Why'd you ask?"

"Because I know just the PSI necessary to bring it to life... Healing Omega!" And with that, Barrier Man was born. The freshly made guardian began to speak in barrierish, but it was okay... both Ocho and Mixolydia had a Babel Fish in their ear. The barrier said "Hmmmm... I don't remember being a living being before... oh... I'm artificial. Oh no! I'm another clayman! Nooo!"

"No, you're not... I'm Mixolydia, but you can call me Missy. You're here to protect my needle... now, you'll need to learn PSI, but, first, we need to make some companions for you... how much clay's left, Ocho?"

"Enough for two more."

"Thanks. So, Barrier Man- that's your name, by the way. It's inscribed into you. Now then. Ocho, nearly done?"

"Yup, I call them Barrier Gal, and Barrier Dude."

"Yay!" Barrier Man shouted "I get a girlfriend, and a best friend! Thanks, Mixolydia!"

"Call me Missy, hon. Now then... Healing Omega... times two!"

Both clay figures began to move. The excited Barrier Man began to fill the other two in on what their purpose was. Mixolydia waited, and then decided to teach them their first core technique.

"Okay, Barrier... trio... yeah, trio sounds good... Barrier Trio, I'll teach you your first technique. This isn't PSI, but will help. Barrier Man, call out, and pose... and others, imitate him."

They obeyed, and then, Mixolydia concentrated. "PK Freeze!"

The frigid wind appeared, but soon dissipated. "Hmmm... interesting. PK Thunder!"

Thunder hit the Barrier Trio, but didn't affect the figures. "Excellent. Now... PK Fire!"

Fire burnt through the Barrier Trio, causing them pain. "Damn. Seems you have a weakness there. Sorry, guys. Alright, if you, Barrier Gal do a pose, and get the others to imitate, I bet you'll be okay..."

But, just like Barrier Man, Barrier Gal's pose had one weakness: PK Freeze. Barrier Dude also tried, but proved vulnerable to thunder.

"Oh well, I'm sure that if you switch regularly, any Psychic would have trouble taking you down... don't be down guys..."

Ocho interrupted the training session. "Missy... the hot spring's ready... just watch for the sludge pit nearby."

"Ah, yes. Barriers!" All stood to attention. "Follow my octopus friend. He'll take you to a hot spring. Stay there for... um... an hour or so... and come back here. I wanna know what powers you know. If you know PK Starstorm, then you'll be a fine trio of guardians. Byebee!"


	18. 017: Indigo

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

017: Indigo

Locria looked down at his dark-indigo clothes. He sort-of resented the colour... it represented his now-eternal duty to protect and keep watch over that damnable needle. What was the point anyway? Why not just let the dragon be awake... as long as a good heart rules it, why should it be a bad thing?

Locria hated his job. He couldn't stand spending his whole life in this dark, dank, hell-hole. The only thing keeping him going was his lovely pet mouse. Locria secretly kept the mouse alive way beyond it's natural lifespan using a little PSI... he loved it more than life itself. Yet, for some reason, he couldn't stand monkeys... their... resemblance to humans... their... banana-stealing habits. That was one good thing about the dark place. No monkeys to swipe his meticulously stored luxury bananas.

As out of nowhere, Locria heard footsteps. Quick into action, Locria stepped out of his pink shell and cast a huge fog over all of the gloomy area, so as to hide the needle. The visitor was soon clear. And it was also pretty clear that it wasn't footsteps Locria heard. A huge... somewhat mechanical vehicle stood before Locria, bearing a fat, old human in overalls that would suit a human child.

"What do you want?"

"Your help, um... Loclier... collier... er..."

"Locria. Why do you need my help?"

"I need information on this pathetic load of islands. I'm new here."

Locria hated the guy from the minute he saw him. "Is that the case? Oh, well sorry. I can't help you... nweheheh! Stupid human!"

"Oh... yes... I am stupid, aren't I... hahahahahaha..." suddenly the laughing ceased to result in Locria being smashed over the head by a metal pincer. "Tell me this island's big secret! The one beneath it! NOW!" Porky paused to cough, gasp and wheeze "And if you don't, your stupid pink-hair la-de-dah life will be over."

Locria was insulted. He couldn't help his pink hair, and was far from effeminate, unlike the others. "I doubt you can kill me. Nweheheh! You probably don't know what us Magypsies know in terms of power... allow me to demonstrate... PK Starstorm!"

The bombardment of stars fell upon Porky, damaging his mech, along with his ego. But porky was prepared. He silently set up a PSI Counter, and proceeded to gloat Locria.

"Is that... all you've got... I've been to the end of time, and back again, and seen the very embodiment of evil lose it's mind... and this... this... shambles of a power is all you've got?"

Locria knew Porky was baiting him, but couldn't resist shutting that cocky human mouth up. "Fine. I'll just... PK Freeze!"

Just as planned, the counter deflected the attack, pelting Locria with his own shards of ice. Weakened and demotivated, Locria groaned "Okay, what information are you after..."

"Simple... what lies beneath these islands? And if you dare lie, I'll destroy your house."

Locria knew Porky meant business. And Locria couldn't bear the thought of losing his pet mouse and his luxury bananas. "Okay, there's... a huge power... below these islands. It's been described as a Dragon, but... I don't think it is... whatever it is, it's enough to recreate all life on these islands... you could do just about whatever the hell you like with this power, as long as you are the one to pull most of it's needles, and be the one to awaken the... dragon."

"So, you need to pull it's needles... how do you do that?"

"Nweheheheheheh... you'll have to... be able to use PK Love. Nweheheh! But you don't know any PSI at all! Hahaha! Nweheheheheh! Sorry to burst your bubble, fatso, but you come all the way here for nothing!"

"No I haven't..." Porky coughed, and gasped, and spat out some phlegm. "...you're coming with me."

"What? Why? What for?"

"Because you'll be able to tell if someone CAN use PK Love...and when you find that someone... then I can brainwash him... or her... to do my will."

"You're insane. You're an insane human. You're my least favourite animal."

"I may be. But if you don't play good... girl... boy... whatever... then you will have no home, no hope, and no life... I mean it."

Locria could tell he meant it. Locria contemplated it. He then figured it out. He wouldn't be around to witness the end of the world anyway. He would be gone, as gone as Modia. He would disappear as soon as his needle was pulled. And with the whole death thing looming over him, Locria relinquished. "Okay... human. I'll join you, but you gotta make me high ranking. I ain't being some simpering henchman. I wanna... have rights under your leadership."

"Oh, don't worry. You'll be the face of my army until I find someone to pull these needle-thingies. You can't expect people to see ME as an understandable, militant, yet benevolent person, can you?"

Locria gazed at the pale grey human. He could see where Porky was coming from.

"Uh-huh. I understand. So, where do we start?"

"Well, you tell me. You know where the humans settle here, right?"

"...right... um... can I just get some bananas..."

"...um... sure, why not." Locria dashed into his house, and took some bananas, and it was at this point he knew that life would never be the same for him again. He slowly, and forlornly, left his home.


	19. 018: Violet

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

018: Violet

"Ooh, I feel all drowsy..." Doria said to herself. She kind of wished she wasn't so alone... but at least she knew she was guarding her needle better than Lydia. "I think I'll go to sleep." With a yawn, she did just that.

As her consciousness blurred with her subconscious, Doria felt an odd feeling... like someone was speaking to her. Then, right before the back of her eyelids, a woman in red stood. She was... somewhat sad. She simply said to Doria's mind "The one you call... Kumatora... will land in your garden. Be sure to make something to catch her... you know... a haystack or something... and also, you look kind of good in those clothes..."

"Why, it's nothing, nice lady... thanks for warning..."

But the woman was gone. The persistence-of-memory style background that had subtly formed behind the woman started the melt, and the already melted clocks evaporated. The image became skewed, and skewed, until it disappeared entirely. Doria awoke, and knew what she had to do. She piled hay everywhere she could, and got her swimming gear on in case Kumatora landed in the pond.

And, as if by magic, Kumatora landed in the pond. Doria gasped, and shouted "Don't worry Kuma darling, Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'm comiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!" Without hesitation, Doria dived into her pond, and pulled the soaked Kumatora to the surface. She was out cold. This called for mouth to mouth.

Doria dragged the limp Kumatora onto land, and opened her mouth, then opened her own. She slowly lowered her mouth onto Kumatora's... but Kuma woke up.

In a shock, Kumatora shoved Doria away from her, panted, and asked "What the HELL did you just try to do?"

"I was just going to resuscitate you darling..."

"Resuscitate my ass! I knew you took too much of a shine to me compared to the other Magypsies!"

"Trust me, hon, I prefer men... I wouldn't dare."

Slightly disgusted by the thought of Doria and a man, Kumatora paused before she spoke. "...okay... I'll believe you. Anyway, how did you know I would fall here?"

"Well... it's funny you should ask that. A woman... pretty like... appeared in a dream, and told me pile hay around my garden in case you fell here. I guess I didn't have to... the pond took the blow."

"Hmmmm... interesting. Anyway, I need to see Lucas, right away! I think I know what our enemy wants..."


	20. 019: Fire

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

019: Fire

Porky had the plan set. Locria was on his side, and he, with the assistance of Locria, had made a brainwashed army of Pigmasks. Now all they needed was to pull off their plan.

Locria suggested that a crisis would be the best way to modernize the society... make them... lose faith in nature. So a crisis is what Porky intended to deliver. Porky had brought some kid from the 80s named Loid to help build the napalm bombs necessary, as well as bring Dr Andonuts from his own time to develop more technology. So, there it was. Blueprints.

Porky had even made some music. He established his own theme, and decided a funky remix would be best for the 'fire of sunshine forest' plan.

"Na nana na na na na, na nana na naaaaa... naaa na na na na nana na naaa" Porky sang from a mother porkship. "Okay... Fassad... drop off your troops and fall back to desert base. I'll accompany my troops... I wanna enjoy this."

Fassad ate a banana, chucked the skin on the floor, and then replied "Whatever... King P. At least I get to stay in the desert under your rule."

"Good... boy... boy? No... girl..."

"Shut the hell up, lard-ass! I'm a MAN now, remember? Anyway, I'll take my porkship and troops out now. See you."

"See you too. Hopefully. Right then. Go!" Fassad left Porky's side, and climbed into a smaller porkship docked inside the mothership they were in. Pigmasks saluted and followed Fassad inside, and then the ship took off.

Porky then ordered the mothership to land. Soon enough, the vessel touched the ground. Porky's mech marched outwards firstly, followed by three pigmasks.

"Where's my fourth guy?" Porky demanded. The fourth guy called from inside the ship "I've sprained my ankle! I just slipped on that Fassad guy's banana peel!"

"Get over yourself! Get out now."

"No. I'm staying here."

"Get out or I'll throw you out! I mean it! Out NOW!"

Miraculously, the Pigmask's sprained ankle become MUCH better, and the fat porker sprinted out. "Sorry, King P, sir."

"Okay, idiots." Porky said, ignoring the fourth Pigmask "You shall split into two groups of two. I shall provide you with 5 bombs each, which you must use to set fire to this forest. Understand?"

"Yes, your porkiness!"

"Good. Now, here's the bomb belts, kitted out with 5 bombs. Put them on, and move out. I'll be waiting at the mother porkship when you're done. Well, what are you staring at? GO!"

The pigmasks, without hesitation, put on their belts and ran away in pairs. Porky decided to stroll about the forest. He gazed at a plant, then mercilessly ripped it apart with his mech's pincers. He decided to equip his flame-thrower, provided to him by that Loid kid. He then sprayed the flammable fluid all over the surrounding flora, watching as it instantly ignited. This was a good day.

Oh yes. It was.


	21. 020: Ice

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

020: Ice

Snowman was snowman. Perpetually cold, regardless of season.

It was getting gradually more deserted by the minute. Everyone wanted to move to Youngtown, it seemed. And, replacing these people that left, were bears and silver wolves. Nothing was interesting here. The drugstore was long gone, as was the hotel. Yet, in the church, one girl, Ana, insisted on staying.

Her father, however, was less insistent. Her father desperately wanted to leave, to go to Ellay, or to Merrysville. But, he HAD to stay, because some kid appeared in his daughters dream. So he decided to let it known.

"Ana, are you sure this boy will arrive... you know... in real life?"

"Yeah, I know!" Ana cried "I lost my hat, and I know he'll be the one to find it... it's destiny."

"I'm not sure about this destiny thing."

"But his name is Ninten, and he wears a cap an has a cute face..."

"Yeah, but you also said that he's never seen his father's face. What does that tell you?"

"But he calls him regularly..."

"How do we even know if this boy is real?"

"I just do, alright? Have faith. Jeez, we're in a church."

"Well I'm not happy about this..."

Then a knock was heard at the door. Ana sprung to the door, to open to...

A boy, with a red cap, black hair, and an 8-pixel face.

"Ninten! I knew you'd come! And you have my hat!"

The boy, slightly confused as to how the girl knew his name, just went along with it. Ana's dad just grinned, and bared it. She was right. He was wrong.


	22. 021: Beams

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

021: Beams

It was refreshing to be in Magicant. After almost dying AGAIN in Spookane thanks to all the Alarm Ghosts and Armours, but, Ninten and Loid were just about existent, no thanks to the latter. To make life worse, Loid had broken all of his plasma beams.

"Can you buy some Plasma beams?"

"Loid, we're in Magicant."

"But can we?"

"You know the answer. No. I lost all my money buying the last batch, and they turned out useless."

"What do you mean? They worked... for a while... but then I broke them."

"Exactly. And I still can't figure out the right way to go and find this stupid Piano in that huge house, even with all the bread crumbs in the world."

"But please, Ninten..."

"No, I'll 4th-D slip my way out of trouble next time. Sleep is less costly than weapons."

"But, you'll get no exp that way..."

"So! I don't need it. You're the one who needs it."

"Shut up! Shut up!"

"Alright, let's get to the Magicantean doctor... that's why we're here." But Ninten hadn't noticed that while he and Loid were arguing, they had instinctively gone towards the holes in Magicant's plains. "DAMN IT LOID! See what you've made us do!"

"YOU'RE the one in front!"

"Shut the f..."

But before Ninten could finish his profanity, Loid was unconscious. Ninten surveyed the scene, and found the rogue four-eyes that knocked his friend out. He smaaaaaashed the four-eyes into next week, and then dragged Loid to mainland Magicant.

After a free healing session, Ninten and Loid felt MUCH better.

"Thanks, Ninten."

"It's okay, Loid."

"Then I guess you can buy those Plasma beams now then..."

And it's probably best that you do not hear the response that Ninten withdrew...

Author's note: I'm back! With a new charger! Sorry for the incredibly long delay, as some of you will know, my laptop charger broke. But I'm back, and more determined than ever!

I'm doing science and I'm still alive!


	23. 022: Thunder

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

022: Thunder

Thunder Tower. Not your average terrorize-your-subjects-into-obeying-you building. This was massive. The greatest achievement of the Pigmask army. Yet right now, 3 humans and a dog were destroying it.

Sirens blared. Fassad knew what it meant. The generator was destroyed.

"A SERIOUS ERROR HAS OCCURED IN THE GENERATOR! A SERIOUS ERROR HAS OCCURED IN THE GENERATOR! ALL PERSONNEL, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY! REPEAT! IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU COULD EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!" the robotic voice droned.

Fassad decided to confront the trouble-makers... even Princess Kumatora, personally.

"You! How dare you destroy this vital system of ours?" Fassad shouted. Lucas and co. ran to the roof, and Fassad stopped. He ate a banana, threw the peel on the floor, and mused "I guess this is a case of fools, like smoke, enjoy heights. Nweheheheheh!"

THEN he pursued the four.

After another bout of nwes and hehs, Fassad continued "You pathetic fools. There's nowhere to run now! Nweheheh! You've been a real thorn in our side, you know that? The funniest thing is happiness could've been yours had you simply stayed in Tazmily and lived quietly, without a care in the world."

Fassad paused his monologue to eat yet another banana. But just as he started to talk again, his phone began to ring. Fassad pressed the green button, and answered;

"Alright. It's all set then. I'll be done here soon, so leave the Mother Porkship on standby above." Fassad clicked the red button, and left it at that. He had a monologue to do.

"Thunder tower is no longer usable. But this is the perfect chance to eliminate the whole lot of you in one fell swoop. It's a bit much for three lousy rats, but our king just LOVES being flashy. So I've decided that you and thunder tower can disappear flashily together."

Just as Fassad said, the Mother Porkship appeared above thunder tower.

"Well, looks like my ride is here. Later days, pals!" Fassad concluded, and for some reason, walked towards his banana peel. "Okay, all set! Destroy Thunder Tower! Well, Lucas, we haven't known each other for long, but it's been fun! I'll never forget about you guys! Nweheheheheh! Nweeeeeeeeeeeeeehehehehe- wha..." and with that, the Tower shook, and sent Fassad head-over-heels over his banana peel. He screamed, turned, and fell.

Air rushed through Fassad's head-dress. All of a sudden, Fassad realized the futility of it all. The stupid disguising of his pink hair. Fassad took off his head-dress, and watched as it flew upwards due to it's lesser mass-surface area ratio. Fassad thought hard.

What did he do to deserve this? Oh yeah, help that Porky brat. That was it. Once he got out of this... somehow... he'd get revenge on both Lucas and his despicable friends and Porky.

But how... he couldn't use PSI. Fassad hadn't worn lipstick in years. Nor did he want to. But now he needed it. Now, where was his make-up bag...

Fassad fumbled in his pockets, and found, not a make up bag, but, instead, bananas. In a panicked frenzy, Fassad ate and threw the peel of every Banana there.

Yummy. Yum yum yummy. The last good thing he'd eat for ever... he thought.

The ground grew closer and closer. Closer. Closer.

Black.

A few hours later, a Pigmask Colonel checking the destruction of Thunder Tower was a success, found a pink-haired, broken-legged mass in Fassad's clothes on the ground. Next to it was his head-dress, remarkably blood-free, and several banana peels.

It was face-down, and the Pigmask gingerly turned the mass around to see if it was Fassad.

And it was. But with a no recognizable nose, and a missing eyeball. Worst of all was his mouth. His mouth was... warped beyond humanity. The Pigmask shuddered, and got out his cell-phone.

"Yeah? Yeah? Um, is there a Doctor. I need a doctor... it's Mr Fassad! He's here! He's... damaged, but here! We need to work on him immediately!"

Within minutes, Pigmasks had taken Fassad to chimera lab.

"Hmmm. Well, his nose and left eye definitely need replacing... and his legs... well, they'll need robotic replicas. It's not ideal, but... we need Fassad. We need to ask what he wants for a mouth, too." Doctor Andonuts soliloquised.

A white light blurred into vision. Fassad heard voices, everywhere, all concerned. After a few seconds, reality snapped into focus.

"Mr Fassad! You're alive, thank goodness. Your legs have been replaced with metal poles, so we've given you a jet-pack for your fully functional arms to operate. You may notice one of your eyes is in HD! That's 'cos we replaced it. And your nose is metal! And..." but the Pigmask was cut off.

"I'm the Doctor here, and I'll explain. Most of the changes are noticeable enough for the average person to notice, Mr Fassad. Now, I need you to write down what you want for a mouth. Take into account that even if you pick a regular-looking mouth, you'll still look... different. So choose whatever you want, regardless of social taboos." Doctor Andonuts said while holding a pen and pad.

Fassad thought hard. If he could sound like anything, what would he sound like? Then, Fassad remembered Modia, and decided. Fassad grabbed the pen and pad, and wrote down one word.

Horns.


	24. 023: Light

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

023: Light

The white ship, leaving the world behind, felt like a collective Lot, leaving a self-destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

The passengers included Ness, Hinawa, Picky, and several others. Hinawa was newly engaged to Ness, and Ness, who'd lived a normal life for so long, knew that his adventuring days were over.

There was a middle-aged man, with a young child who looked a bit of a bum, even at his age. There was an orphan baby sleeping in a crib. There was an old-ish man who looked greedy, with an equally greedy-looking wife.

"So, what are we going to do?" Picky asked the passengers. "We need SOME way of starting over, and it ain't gonna happen with our modern mannerisms."

"The guy's got a point." the middle-aged man said "I used to be a thief... there should be no room for such... worldly evils... where we're going."

"Well, you're guess is as good as mine for how to erase that part of us..." Hinawa replied "Unless... Ness, honey, do you still know PSI?"

"Um, yeah, but why'd you ask?"

"'Cos you could erase people's worldly memories..."

"No. I'm afraid not. PSI stands for Psionics, not mental manipulation. I can't erase minds, just read them."

"Oh, you can read minds?" the greedy-looking man goaded "Then what am I thinking now?"

Ness looked at the man "You secretly believe I can read minds, but denied my ability to do so on account of your bald head and tiny penis."

The man blushed and choked on his shattered pride, and muttered "You win."

Just then, the warm cabin room became cold as the door opened, as the driver and captain of the boat, called to them "We're almost there! We'd best get to work as soon as possible to establish a village." while stooping to get his head in view.

"As long as there's trees..." a man with rugged stubble and a torn jacket said "I used to be a lumberjack, and can make our houses. As long as we won't need electricity."

"Don't worry. We won't." Leder replied. "We'll need miners and pigeon trainers and doctors too."

"I was training in medical nursing." a young woman said "I can do that."

"And I had a pet kestrel in my teens." Picky added "I bet a pigeon can't be much harder to train."

"I... I helped make gravestones." An old man said "I reckon I still got enough get-up-and-go to find some rock to make graves and house parts..."

"Good stuff. I'm glad you're qualified, because we're here now!" Leder concluded.

The ship docked as best it could onto the rough coast of the Nowhere islands. The new-comers walked, walked, and walked some more, until Leder (who had the height advantage of seeing these things) shouted "There's a forest nearby here! And this land's fertile... why not settle here?"

"Yeah... why not." Ness mused, while bobbing his cowboy hat.

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, some man-like, woman-like... thing... flashed into existence.

"Greeeeeeetiiiiiings, new humans!" Ionia chirped. "We sensed your presence. It seems someone here knows PSI... oh, lovely! So, you want to build a village... well, we... Magypsies..." Ionia clicked, and with that Aeolia, Doria, Lydia, Phrygia, and Mixolydia appeared. "...are willing to help. Huh? Where's Locria? What the... oh, shoot. Oh well, we can do the job without her..."

"You said you can help..." Alec, Hinawa's father said.

"Oh yes I did, hon! We'll assist in making the land more... hospitable, and help mould your houses and stuff... and don't worry, we won't make your houses pink shells! We'll just do as you say to help out. Mwah!" Ionia concluded with a kiss-on-hand-and-blow movement.

Within weeks, a village was fully constructed. Doria asked Leder "Is there anything we can do to help you further?"

"Actually, there is this orphan child... she was just found and put on the ship... would you be so kind as to look after her?"

"Why sure, tall, handsome human!"

"Um... also... Magic... Gypsy woman... do you know of a way to erase memories?" Picky asked.

"Ask Aeolia about that... she's the one who has the Egg of light..."

"The Egg of Light?"

"Yeah. You can write a story of your life, and replace your real memories with those fictional ones... that's your best shot..."


	25. 024: Darkness

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

024: Darkness

Aeolia had sent a message to all of the Magypsies ages ago... what was taking them so long? The party should've started by now.

Aeolia sat on her chair, and pondered. But, mid-ponder, a charred figure of Locria appeared.

"Hi, Locria!" Aeolia said "Punctual as always, I see." and rolled her eyes.

"Well, I don't see anyone else here. So I'm the most punctual you'll get, pinky!"

"Hmmm... I guess. Anyway, where are the others? I called them a while ago."

"Probably shopping. We all agreed to bring something to the party."

"Oh... well what did you bring, Locria?"

"What do you think?" Locria replied while grinning, and clicked his fingers "Bananas! For everyone!"

"Um... okay. I've never been crazy about bananas like you but... I like them."

"Good. But if you don't want any, I'll happily eat them myself!" Locria chuckled after saying this, and ate a banana he had in his pocket... but didn't throw the peel on the floor. This was someone else's home.

Soon Mixolydia appeared, and wearily said "Sorry, Aeolia hon... I was busy. I brought some... things for after."

Aeolia looked in the bag Missy was holding, and looked at her in horror. "Mixolydia! We are NOT doing drugs at this party! Put those mushrooms away!"

"Well... if we get bored, we could always take a nibble. They make you feel just dandy..."

"Well you won't catch me eating them." Aeolia said. Locria secretly sided with Mixolydia on this argument, but said nothing so as to stay neutral.

Ionia, Phrygia, and Lydia arrived. "Helloooooo!" the three collectively said. "We brought giiiiifts!"

In Ionia's bag was some pickles, in Phrygia's was some Meteotite for decoration, and in Lydia's was a make-up set.

"Oooh! That Meteotite looks fabulous! And the pickles... mmm! And a new make-up set! Lovely, lovely, lovely!" Aeolia squealed.

"Hmph! Charming, Aeolia! So much for my bananas, eh?" Locria joked.

"Oh, don't worry. I appreciate your gift of more-than-enough potassium to last a human lifespan."

"Heh heh. It's nothing." And with that, Doria appeared, huffing and gasping.

"Sorry... been... ages... got... gift..." Doria exhaled.

"What is it?" Aeolia hurriedly asked.

"Book... by... Poo... nahasah... reefa... sanjeeve... oh forget it... just Poo. It's called... 'PSI, an advanced guide, by some guy named Poo. I found it on the floor... oops! That's not polite... sorry!"

"It's okay... say, we can find out what humans know of PSI... say, this human's awfully young-looking to be bald..."

"Oh, I know... but yeah, that's my gift."

Aeolia whistled, to get the other Magypsies' attention. "Okay, girls! It's time to party! What do you wanna do first?"

"Why don't we just talk to each other?" Ionia said.

"Yeah... that seems cool..." Locria added.

"Ooh... I have something on my mind..." Phrygia said.

"What is it?" Aeolia asked.

"Whenever I dream, I always dream about the Dark Dragon. What it looks like... what it'll do..."

"Oh..." Locria said "I dream that the Dragon... isn't a dragon at all. It's just some... super powerful thing that can change everything."

"I always thought of it as looking big, and scary, with a huge, eerie smile as it destroys everything." Mixolydia crooned.

"I think it's a big, PSI-using thing with wings, and a big smile, and can sing a little melody that everyone can resonate with..." Ionia described...

"I think it's pink!" Aeolia shouted.

"I think it's black, with red stripes!" Doria called.

"I think it's all colours, and no colours at the same time!" Locria sang.

"I think it's beautiful, with a rainbow down it's back!" Lydia eagerly said.

"I think it can change it's appearance at will!" Mixolydia added.

"We should totally draw our own interpretations..." Phrygia said "...cos we'll never get to see it now..."

"Hmm... it isn't much of a party thing, but okay..." Aeolia concluded.

After a few hours of drawing and painting, seven drawings lay on Aeolia's table.

Aeolia's was a pink, lizard-like thing with dark purple wings, with a flame coming from it's mouth. Each scale was a slightly different shade of pink, and in it's tail was a wand.

Doria's dragon looked more like a vampire than a dragon, and it had a black body, with red patterns tattooing it's hide. It had huge, fearsome teeth, and was riding a motorcycle-like contraption.

Lydia's interpretation of the dragon was a giant Magypsy, holding a rainbow in his hand.

Phrygia's was a sleeping, black, titan, that was effortlessly holding the entire nowhere islands up with it's finger, in it's sleep. It had triangular, evil-looking, red eyes, and spikes on it's head.

Mixolydia, who clearly had sneaked one of her Tanetanian Mushrooms into her mouth, had drawn a huge, slightly camp-looking, disembodied smile with one central eye above itself. It had black lipstick, and gave the weird impression that it was always looking at you.

Ionia had drawn an angel-like thing, with a joker's hat and a purple outfit. Glitter was coming from behind it, and it's 'previous path' could be seen from those sparkles.

Locria had drawn a seemingly amorphous gas, which was spiralling in towards a figure, as if the gas was forming itself into a person. It seemed to have a whisp-like banana in it's smoky hand.

Aeolia looked at the pictures. "Well, so much for a party, but this has been great. We should... draw more often. You never know when the time will come..."


	26. 025: Stars

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

025: Stars

Ocho effortlessly skated across the water, despite having passengers.

"Alright, guys, we're almost at Tazmily. I'm gonna miss Mixolydia, y'know?"

"I know you are... I miss the other Magypsies too..." Kumatora replied.

Soon they had reached Tazmily beach, and hoped to try and convince the future city-goers to stay in Tazmily, but it was obvious that it was too late. The village was a ghost town.

Kumatora mused "Why don't we take a rest? It'll take a while to get to Ionia's house, so we may as well get the energy we need..."

"Yeah, let's chill on the beach... Bronson's there..." Duster added.

"Fine, fine." Lucas conceded "Let's go to the beach."

A few hours later, and everyone was fast asleep on the sand. Duster rolled over in his sleep, and hit Kumatora in the arm.

"Ow! Watch it, will ya?" Kumatora whispered in a harsh tone.

Duster heard a voice, and groggily woke up. "Uh... what?"

"I said watch it, you... moron!"

"Ha... you're not my dad... are you?"

"It's Kumatora, ya muppet!"

"Oh... oh yeah. Say, the stars are real visible tonight, eh?"

"Um... yeah... what of it?"

"Well, ain't it awesome? Look, you can see shapes in them."

"No you can't. That's rubbish made up by astronomers."

"No, look, there's you." Duster said while pointing to the sky.

"What? Where?"

"There, look."

"That ain't me. It's a stick-man with a dress."

"But that's how you act... a man with a dress."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Kumatora paused to punch Duster in the torso. "Alright, smart guy, here's you!" and pointed to another region of the sky.

Duster looked intently. "Where? I can't see anything there."

"Well what's that? A hunched, bum-looking stick-man with bad breath! Har har!"

"Um, Kuma, that's the plough. It's known as ursa major by astronomers."

"And what does that mean?"

"Big bear."

"Haha! So that's how I saw the resemblance!"

"Oh very funny, Kuma. Now lets go to sleep."

"Aw, but the fun's just getting' started..."

"Hey!" a younger voice interrupted the two's conversation "I'm trying to sleep! It was you two love-birds who wanted to stay here!" Lucas shouted, then rolled back over and closed his eyes.

Duster and Kumatora both blushed, turned away from each other, and didn't talk for the rest of the night. Lucas smiled at knowing their little secret, and fell asleep.


	27. 026: Ground

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

026: Ground

Ness proudly walked home to his mother.

"Good job, Ness! You saved the world from the evil Googi... now, lets look at some pictures."

Ness looked at Fuzzy Pickles' handiwork. He had to admit, he was a photographic genius. He always had such a consistent camera line... and spiralled out of the sky whenever he felt compelled to take a picture. Pretty snazzy, but annoying.

After it was done, Ness' mum smiled at him and said "You're grounded."

"What?"

"I said you're grounded."

"What? Why?"

"Well... you've skived off school for lord knows how long, entered a do-not-enter area, dealt with a crime boss, beat up old men, hippies, and broke into the mayor of fourside's office, not to mention..."

"Okay, okay, I get it. But that was all to help save the world!"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realise old women who shop were all for the world's destruction..."

"Yeah, but I didn't think Pokey was the type... but he was!"

"Enough! You're grounded! End of discussion. Go to your room!"

Ness forlornly walked to his bedroom."Aw... just when I bought her that diamond ring with that 100000 dollars I had left..." he muttered just loud enough for his mum to hear.

"Hmmmm... are my ears burning?"

"Maybe... so, am I not grounded?"

"Okay, Ness. You're not grounded. Now lets see that diamond..."


	28. 027: Melodies

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

027: Melodies

"Hello honey..." Maria said while smiling

"Hello,Maria. How's things?" George asked.

"I... I don't know. I'll never know. I am a figment of your consciousness..."

"What? No! NO! NO! NO-HO-HO-HO!" George cried as he woke up.

George, no matter how much he tried, couldn't get over Maria. Why did he leave without her?

George knew PSI. It was the only thing that kept him going... the ability to have psychic powers. He'd recently tried to read the mind of something big; the earth.

George concentrated. He heard a voice; a Mother-like voice... and it said "The earth... me... I face... a crisis... and... need..." George's concentration fluctuated "...listen to me... I need... your wife's... lullaby... the child... will destroy... me... but if your great... grandson... if he learns... that... lullaby... Giegue will... will... leave my surface... please... work... for... me..." Out of shock, George pulled back. He'd done it... he read the mind of the earth. And he knew what he must do...

"If my great grandson must get them, then I must put them in places he will pass... tell me, where?" George asked, and focused.

"He will... live... at this house,...and... one day... leave... he will... visit a graveyard... and pass a... canary sanctuary... and enter a... zoo... and... he... will visit... a haunted house... called Rosemary Manor... and cross... the Yucca Desert... and will warp several times... to a wasteland... of... great psychological energy... he'll also go... to... Mount... Itoi... that is... all... you need... to know..."

George gasped, recovered, and tried to listen to the Earth again. But she was silent.

It was time. Time to place the melodies. It was Christmas Eve... and this gave George an idea. It was late at night, and George's daughter was fast asleep. George drank the brandy he'd laid out to appease 'Santa Claus' and unwrapped a present for his daughter. It was a baby doll. Inside it was a music box. George listened to the tune.

It wasn't right. But, using his new-found powers, George managed to reprogram the music box. The tune played. Da-da da-da da-da da-da.

Yep. It worked.

Christmas Day, and George's daughter ripped open the hastily re-wrapped present.

"Dad! It's a doll! Thank you!"

"Um... just so you know... that doll's special. Even when you're too old to play with dolls, keep this... for your kids, and their kids after that... I can't tell you why..."

"Okay... thanks anyway."

Well, that was easy. George went out and contemplated the next place. Oh yeah, that's it! The Canary Sanctuary! Canaries sing! Yes!

The Canary Sanctuary was teeming... the birds were all over. But only one was singing...

George approached this bird, and read it's mind. The mind said "Hi, I'm Laura, the wonderful singing Canary. What do you want?"

George's mind replied "I want to teach you this melody..." His mind then transmitted the tune. "...it represents hope. Sing it as much as possible. Please! Take this gift of PSI-assisted life-lengthening as an incentive."

"Okay. It's worth eternal life. I'll give it a go." And with that, Laura began singing. Cheep cheep cheep cheep che-eeeeep...

"Good job... alright, where next..."

George pondered and pondered. Hmmm... canary, graveyard, zoo... ZOO! Of course! There must be something that can sing at the zoo... right?

Sadly, nothing. Only bears, giraffes, lemurs, anteaters and monkeys... nothing that could sing. How pointless.

George turned around to go home, but a monkey screeched. It pulled his shirt, and then growled in an affectionate way.

George thought. This monkey was awfully tame... maybe it had talent... talent... singing... yes!

George kneeled, looked it in the eye, and said to it's mind "Listen... if you learn how to sing... at some point... sing this..." and transmitted the third melody telepathically.

"I'd be happy to oblige." the monkey replied "But why don't YOU teach me?"

"Because I'm... not an animal trainer."

"You are now... just sing at me, and I'll pick it up."

"Um... okay..." George blushed in embarrassment. Several customers were at Podunk zoo. George thought "Oh screw it." and began to sing in a slightly false-sounding operatic voice.

"La la la-la laaaaaa." George sang.

The punters looked at George in confusion and laughter. But they soon stopped laughing as the Monkey mimicked, tone for tone, the tune.

"Oh my god, did you just..." a woman asked George, before being finished by George.

"Teach a monkey how to sing? Yes."

And with that, George walked off like some bad-ass film character who'd just blew up something big- he didn't look back once. And his brain was on fire. He went straight to Rosemary Manor, and found what he was looking for... the famous haunted piano.

George used telepathy on the piano, and said "Remember this for me..." and played a tune... da-da da-da daaaa...

George didn't stop his travels there though. He stopped at the Yucca desert, looking for a thing that could sing... but no luck... anywhere. All there were were cacti. Absolutely everywhere...

George thought... some Buddhists believe even plants to have minds and souls of their own... maybe if he could read the mind of one...

"Hello, Mr Cactus, how's things?" George's mind asked a random cactus.

"Just usual. It's hot. I wish there was more to do."

"How about if I teach you how to sing?"

"How can I do that? I haven't got a mouth like you members of the animal kingdom."

"But... if I use my powers..." George used some mild psychokinesis to create a mouth, and a nose so the cactus could hum too. "Now, sing this..." and showed it the 5th melody "...and make sure any kids who see you hear it..."

The cactus started immediately- naaaaa naaaaa naaaaa naaaaa...

George spent hours looking for the next location... and wasteland. It would feel odd... if any psychic power was present.

But eventually he found a place with wrecked pillars, and crumbled houses that looked like pink houses... an odd society once lived here, clearly.

A lizard approached George. George tried Telepathy on it, but the Lizard's mind replied with "Hey! I know PSI too! I'LL start this conversation, thank you."

"Then you'll know why I'm here..."

"Yep. You want me, the mighty dragon, to remember the tune 'Na na na na na na na na'... don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but you don't seem to be a dragon..."

"I am! Well, ever since Queen Mary was on the scene..."

"Queen Mary? What are you talking about? This place is abandoned!"

"Can't you see? We're in a big crystal cavern..."

"No... I can't. See you..."

Shaken by the experience, George decided to go to the last place on his list... Mount Itoi.

The mountain was a creepy, otherworldly place, and the big looming lake wasn't exactly inviting...

…the perfect place for a courageous boy like George's great-grandson!

Years later, and George had finished his lake base. He had built EVE, in case Ninten got in trouble, and inserted a code that allowed it to play... the 7th melody.

But George had become fatigued. His age had caught him up. All his time travelling had aged him considerably... George realized...

He'd take the last melody to his grave. So George did one last thing to ensure his Great-grandson would visit his grave... the mark 'XX' carved into his tombstone... the same as the pink shell he saw in the wasteland.

And with that, George rested in peace, content that he had done his life's service.


	29. 028: Smiles

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

028: Smiles

As Giygas screamed, writhed, and began to fade into nothingness, and Pokey started to deride Ness one last time, and the four heroes' robotic eyes began to fill with red noise, the world in the present somehow noticed it.

Everyone, everyone who ever knew Ness and his companions... somehow felt that Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo, had achieved their goal, and somehow they were confident that the world as they knew it was safe.

Ness' mum was still knelt in prayer for Ness' safety when she felt this... and she cheered with joy. Her son, the heroic Ness, had triumphed over evil once and for all- and survived it.

Mr Carpainter listened as the gnarlings and the roarings in his mind that had traumatized him ever since he got the Mani Mani statue suddenly silenced themselves, and with that, removed the last trace of blue from his office.

Paula's mum & dad both danced, and sang, and played ring-a-ring-O'-roses as the children rejoiced as well.

Zombies hissed and growled in their prison, while the Threed inhabitants stuck their tongues out at them cautiously. Master Belch, meanwhile, was dissolving in the deep darkness... as every molecule of undigested lipids, proteins, sugars, and starches spread into a thin, grimy, acidic layer on the top of a region of swamp water in the deep darkness.

Talah Rama had already thrown a tremendous party in honour of the world being saved, along with his monkey associates. Even the monkeys from the deep darkness teleported to Talah Rama's underground paradise for the event, and there were plenty of hamburgers, protein drinks, fresh eggs, and pizzas to go around.

Enrich Flavour and Monotoli shook hands, and Fourside cheered as Monotoli relinquished his position as mayor, and said, in an undertone "Thank you, Ness.".

Even the Tenda were aware something amazing had happened, and drank their psychotropic tea with much vigour, and got messages like "Paula, the girl with that strange group... she saved you all."

Lastly, but by no means least, Everdred, who had spent days walking aimlessly to find a place to die in solitude, similarly to a cat, finally found a river to lie down by, skipped a rock, smiled, and died content, as he too, felt the feeling that the shining young boy, Ness, had saved the world, and that everyone would be okay...


	30. 029: Love

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

029: Love

"Flint... I'm not sure what to say... but just calm down and hear me out. I have good news, and I have bad news. Which do you wanna hear first... no, I'll start with the good news. I picked up a giant Drago Fang. It'll make for a great weapon. I figured you could probably use it... as for the bad news... the bad news is... it's where I found the Drago Fang... it was... in your... it was pierced through your wife's heart."

The words echoed in Flint's mind, and pierced him like a double-edged sword each and every time...

Bronson wasn't a bad guy... it wasn't his fault... but somehow... Flint knew this and still blamed him. He was... the messenger of hurt... the one who... ruined his life... in Flint's head.

Flint hated himself. Why couldn't he have gone with Hinawa... why couldn't he have been there... to save her, or at the very least, say everything he wanted to say to her before she died...

"I'll miss you..."

"I'll make sure the kids grow to be strong, thoughtful individuals..."

"I love you..."

"I always will..."

Flint couldn't stand it... why didn't he go? Why?

Blame, self-guilt and hatred blotted the world of Flint's thoughts red, and suddenly, it changed to blue as Flint broke down in tears, while waking up in his cell. He howled, and wailed, and screamed at his irreplaceable loss.

After 15 minutes, Flint was out of tears, out of motivation, and out of energy, and collapsed to be as unconscious as he was when Lighter smashed him over the head.

Author's note: Due to A-levels and a massive jhack project called Poopbound, I haven't done much writing. Sorry.

Poopbound is great though! A YTP-themed earthbound with the King as Ness, Gwonam as Paula, Dr Robotnik as Jeff (complete with PINGAS rockets), and Ganon as Poo (with the mirror command being replaced with the DIE command, which causes Ganon to shout 'You must die' before send PSI thunder beta at an enemy of your choice (not random) and without using PP.

Giygas is Weegee and Pokey is Duke Onkled. I only need to do a bit more sprite work and text hacking and I'll be done! Wish me luck... pleeeeeaaaaase...


	31. 030: Huge

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

030: Huge

Brick Road pleaded and pleaded Dr Andonuts. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Oh, please, Dr Coconuts, please, just do this for me, come on, come on! It's my one meaning in life! My one dream! Oh please, Mr Andronauts, have a heart..."

"My name is neither Dr Coconuts or Mr Andronauts, but if you are that passionate, I will see what I can do for you..."

"I have the blueprints of 'Dungeon Man' here..." Brick Road excitedly said while thrusting a blue piece of paper at Dr Andonuts.

"Hmmm... you're not... entirely precious on the exact carrying out of your designs, are you?"

"No... why?"

"This zoo section on the third floor will have to be smaller... there's no way the legs you've designed will be able to walk with that weight... even though it can support it."

"...okay, I guess I can sacrifice that... anything else?"

"...mmm... yes. How do you intend on being the mind of this monstrosity of a dungeon... a remote control signal will be heavily distorted and ineffective through the thick rock walls of this dungeon... there's no way the joints will receive the waves as the frequency will change while travelling through the rock..."

"...didn't you read the back? I intend on BEING dungeon man... and I intend to control the dungeon by my own neural impulses... and I thought you could help me with that."

"Hmmmm... yes, it is possible. It'll be entirely wired and therefore a pain to cable, but I know some good guys for that. You won't mind it being wired to your head, do you?"

"No. I'll be dungeon man, no matter what."

"Well, we should change the upper floor too. Your head will be there... your organic head, that is... in a well ventilated place so you can breath. The rest of your body can be in a slot behind the wall your head will poke out of. The wires will tap straight into your spinal cord, and indirectly access the cortex of your brain. They will then extend throughout the dungeon like so..." and drew some lines in highlighter to represent the paths of wire that would control the gargantuan structure. "...well. I'll hire some constructors to get started on the dungeon tomorrow. For now, rest."

"No! I'll start the dungeon now, and then by the time the constructors get here, I won't have to wait as long."

"...you really want this, don't you?"

"Yes. Yes I do. Now, I've got some raw materials to dig, so I'll leave the blueprints with you..." Brick Road concluded, and left Andonuts' lab.

Dr Andonuts took the notes, and smiled. It was great to see such ambition in a grown man. Not that Dr Andonuts would ever appreciate Brick Road's ambition to his face...


	32. 031: Masculine

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

031: Masculine

It was Locria's 20th birthday, and every Magypsy from Modia to Ionia were excited and wondered what banana-filled antics would forego the day.

But Locria was crying. He was putting his make-up on, looking in the mirror, and hating the way he looked... no matter what, Locria didn't look good in make up. And to make matters worse, all the mascara he'd applied was trickling down his face due to his grief.

The mouse living in Locria's house, hearing the sniffing and gasping, went to his crying master, and thought "Why are you crying, Locria?"

Locria replied "I just can't look good, little guy. I just don't suit make-up like the other Magypsies. What should I do?"

"Well..." the mouse replied in thought, "...I always think you look better without make-up. You'd probably also look better in less effeminate clothes, too. Come on, take that dress off, and change into some clothes I've sewn for you..."

Locria paused, smiled, and asked "You... made me some clothes?"

The mouse nodded, and Locria didn't need telepathy to understand that it was an affirmative nod. Locria laughed and gently took hold of the mouse.

"Oh, I love you! You're the best mouse ever! I'm going to keep you for ever and ever and ever!" Locria said, while giving the mouse a kiss.

"Oh, it was nothing, Locria. No need to kiss me. Anyway, if you put me down, I'll show you the clothes I've made for you..."

Locria put the mouse down, and it scurried across the banana-littered floor, and dragged with its tiny body a fully-sized outfit from the mouse hole.

Locria picked the clothes up, and found an Arabic-style head-dress, in a dark purple hue. The side-veils were a slightly transparent pink colour, and in the middle of the main hat was a yellow jewel. With the head-dress was an indigo long-sleeved shirt, and a black waistcoat with semi-precious stones for buttons. Also, there was some short trousers which were black, and some flat-soled pink boots.

"My goodness, they are perfect! Oh, thank you so much, mousey! Aw... I really need to name you..."

"I prefer being nameless... it's a family thing." the Mouse replied in thought.

"Alright, I'll get changed, and then prepare for the party... I've got a lot of Banana Bread, Banana Fondue, and fermented banana spirit to prepare for tonight..."


	33. 032: Infinite

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

032: Infinite

Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and Boney.

The Nowhere Island chosen four, and they kind of knew it. Lucas was walking towards the hot spring in Snowcap Mountain.

"Well, will you follow me?" Lucas asked

"Eh... I don't really need to go in the hot spring." Kumatora replied while shrugging.

"How do you know that?" Lucas questioned, "Have you got some kind of innate sense of when you're fully healed?"

"Um, yeah, actually. It's like I have... a number... being told to me by... God."

"God? There is none." Lucas firmly said.

"Oh, since when were you a cynic, Lucas?" Duster wondered out loud.

"Since my life went right downhill. My brother has been missing for three years, my father is distressed and insane from this loss, and my mother's dead. And I haven't done anything wrong in my life. The only bad thing I'd ever done at that point was beat up a mole cricket... and he was asking for it... anyway, my point is if there was a God, He wouldn't let me suffer like that. Unless God is sadistic."

"No... to me, God isn't a person, nor a physical power... just an information sender... that tells us what to do..." Kumatora said "I think 'God' isn't capable of sadism, or any emotion."

Boney barked. This meant "I think you're talking about a 'player'... a person who tells a protagonist of an interactive tale what to do and how to fight. Flint told me about something that happened in the prayer sanctuary... something about a 'player'. If this player is a person, then he or she IS capable of sadism."

"You're surprisingly intelligent and in depth for a dog." Kumatora remarked.

Boney barked again. This time, it meant "What do you mean 'For a dog'. Another super-dimensional entity called Shigesaso Itoi, which I believe to be the creator, made every creature equal. I hear that in worlds not made by Mr Itoi, there's no such thing as PSI... or dogs with thought capacities like mine."

"I like your theology, Boney. I wonder what deities made the other worlds you think of..." Kumatora replied.

"Shut up, Kumatora!" Lucas interrupted, "I don't know. He's MY dog, he'll speak to me! And there is NO GOD! Nor is there such person as Shigesaso Itoi!"

Duster, who hadn't heard Boney mention the name Shigesaso Itoi due to not being psychic, suddenly perked up.

"Actually, Lucas, that's where you're wrong. I heard two guys speaking in Hotel Yado, and I swear one of them was an avatar or incarnation of a Mr Itoi... he said 'Croquette rolls are fine with me' and then said that he preferred them... for some reason, I felt that these... Croquette rolls... resonated with the whole of Tazmily village."

"Nope. I don't believe you."

"Oh, come on, Lucas." Kumatora chided, "Don't be like this. You shouldn't be bitter about what happened to you... for all you know, Shigesaso Itoi might have a purpose in these unfortunate events..."

Lucas turned red with rage.

"Oh, great, so Mum was meant to die... that's awful. Being destined to be mercilessly killed by a Mecha-Drago. I don't know why a loving, kind man would do that..." but his sentence ended with a choking sound, and soon Lucas was in tears.

"Hmmm. It doesn't seem right, I know that, Lucas." Duster comforted. "But, why not have faith... if you have faith in Shigesaso Itoi, then you can be sure that everything will turn out for the best..."

Boney let out a woof. "Don't forget about the player. Having faith in him will assist us when we face hardships... like the impending Steel Mechorilla battle... oops, did I predict the future out loud..."

"A steel... mechorilla..." Kumatora wondered "Alright, I'll go in the Hot Spring too, Lucas."

"Yeah, ditto here." Duster said.

Boney simply barked affirmatively, and they entered the Hot Spring, in preparation for the battle they saw coming somehow...

Author's note: Extreme fourth wall breakage here, eh? Hope you can cope with it. I know that some of you won't appreciate this kind of narrative, and some will.

The ones who like this chapter most likely like pantomimes as well. Oliver :).


	34. 033: Fungal

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

033: Fungal

Shrooom!

That was his name. And none of his mobile mushroom friends wore it out.

Shrooom! began to wonder if the supposed chosen one would ever come.

"This... is... your fourth 'Your sanctuary' location... it's... blehhh..."

"What's wrong, Shrooom! Why aren't you rehearsing your one line with more enthusiasm?" a scamperin' mushroom asked.

"You're not my boss. Shut up. I'm bored. The most action I've had in years is being spoken to by that nerd kid who couldn't absorb my power. Seriously, when will this Ness kid arrive? I wanna fight him! I'm so bored! I'm bored enough to eat my own psychotropic hide!"

"Well... why don't you?"

"I'd damage myself, and go on a trip that would most likely do some sort of damage to me. I have some NASTY narcotics in here."

"Oh, speaking of nasty fungi, a plot device from a Lemony Snicket book enquired of you. He asked 'How do you become a major character in a story when you lack speech organs? Yours truly, Medusoid Mycelium.'. What do you say back?"

"I say since when did I become an agony aunt for all of the fungus kingdom? Next you'll be saying yeast wants to take over the world!"

"Um... yeast attempted to take over the world 5 weeks ago... it was stopped in its path by Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureous." 

"Eh... figures. Those damn bacteria. Trading genes with their friends so they can become powerful... reminds me too much of human stock markets... I don't trust them."

"Well, whatever. Anyway, bored any more?"

"No... do you get bored?"

"Yeah. Yeesh! I wish we were here when that nerd kid was... we'd destroy him..."

"Yeah, he's no match for us..."

"Say, what's that over there..." the scampering mushroom pondered.

But he pondered no more. A bottle rocket had removed him from existence. Three kids came into vision... a capped kid, a nerd, and a girl in a pink dress.

Shrooom! had no time to grieve... and thought "Finally! The moment I've waited for!"

"This is your fourth 'Your Sanctuary' location. But it's mine now. Take it from me, if you dare..."


	35. 034: Doom

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

034: Doom

Sad music started playing... Lucas' coming apocalypse was ravaging the entirety of the nowhere islands.

And a Pigmask blimp was setting off... it's when flaming rocks fall from the sky that you get the hell out of there.

And they were doing an impressive job too... they'd launched, and the Pigmask Major driving the airship was steering the balloon as carefully as possible to avoid the boulders in the sky.

"Major! Major! This is Captain Brown... we're not gonna make it!"

"Why'd you say that?" the Major asked.

"B-b-because of that!" Captain Brown stuttered whilst pointing at an utterly unavoidable rock.

Every Pigmask in the vehicle felt the jolt... and soon realized they were falling. The Major driving the ship had narrowly avoided getting directly hit by the rock, but he knew some hadn't. This was the Pigmask army's darkest hour, but it soon became darker, as the blimp impacted on ground... somewhere.

Black became grey, and grey became green as the Major woke up. The airship had landed, but only a few pigmasks had survived it...

Blood stains were on so many of the suits... pink turned crimson, blue turned magenta, and green turned into a sickly yellow...

This was awful... what happened in New Pork City... he had received a transmission from Porky saying that soon, his aims would be complete... what were they? Did he complete his aims? What was going on?

None of that mattered more than one problem: where had he landed...

The Major checked and found one unconscious Pigmask Colonel who had just gotten up.

"What's happened?" the Major asked.

"Beats me. Anyway, seems like we've landed on Tanetane Island..."

"Tanetane... island? Where's that."

"It's where our Commander pulled his third needle. Do you reckon he's won?"

"Um... I'm not sure..."

"Okay, anyway, lets find something to eat."

"I'm way ahead of you, Colonel- look! Mushrooms!" the Major said while running towards the purple, funky-looking food.

But before he could stuff his face, the Colonel yelled "Noooooooooooo! DON'T EAT THOSE!"

"Why not?" the Major asked, as if strange fungi were always safe.

"It's a Tanetanian Trip-cap! They cause hallucinations!"

"Oh, come on, as if that bothers me, I'm hungry! Now, if you'll excuse me..."

The Major opened his mouth to eat the thing, but the mushroom was ashes before it got to his mouth. The colonel, laser gun still smoking, simply shook his head in disapproval.

"Now, stop this nonsense. Come on, there's probably safe food some place else on this island."

"Lets hope... I'm starving. Why did you not let me eat that?"

"'Cos I don't want another man dead because he tripped out and drowned himself!"

"Shut up, I wouldn't do that..."

"Um, yeah, you would. Trust me, I've seen what goes on here... those three rebels and a dog once took those 'shrooms, and then went bathing in a sludge pit."

The Major shuddered. "Okay, fine. Lets find something else."

But all they found was rotting monkalrus carcasses littering the floor. An ancient dragonfly buzzed around the pigmasks, cautiously checking them out, and then flew away. The Pigmask Colonel looked around, and just as he found what seemed like an edible herb, the Ancient Dragonfly returned... with friends.

"Damn it! What do we do, Colonel?" the Major asked.

"Fight 'em! And don't call me colonel... call me Ishmael." the Colonel replied while zapping one of the strange bugs.

The Major paused, waited for a convenient moment, and replied "Ishmael? Are you serious? ISHMAEL!" and then burst out laughing. But the situation was no laughing matter when another Ancient Dragonfly set fire to the Major.

"Aaaah! Fire! Fire! Fiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrre!"

"Shut up and roll, idiot." Ishmael said, and shot an Ancient Dragonfly in the wings, "I'd like to see you help, not mock me and scream like a banshee. Anyway, your name any better?"

"...Genghis" the Major reluctantly replied.

"See, you're in the same boat. So, come on, help me kick ass..."

"Yes, sir!" Genghis replied.

The two shot, ducked, dived, and overall attacked the oncoming army of Ancient Dragonflies.

Eventually, however, Ishmael's laser ran out of power. And there was still a good 5 of the dragonflies left.

"Cover me, my gun's died."

"Got it..." Genghis acknowledged, and zapped another Ancient Dragonfly.

"Y'know, I'm running low too..." Genghis finally said as his next shot failed.

"Well, what now?" Ishmael said while hiding in the corner.

"Lets throw our guns at them!"

"What?"

"Well, unless you have any better ideas..." Genghis replied while batting another Dragonfly unconscious.

"I guess..." Ishmael mused, and chucked his laser gun right at Genghis, knocking him out, causing him to fall, and crush yet another Ancient Dragonfly.

"Damn it! Genghis, are you all right?" Ishmael asked, but couldn't hear if there was a response as he'd just been set on fire...

"Aaaah! Oh good god, now I see what he meant!" he shouted while rolling around. After recovering, he punched a dragonfly dead. He looked for the final one, and after realizing that the buzzing had stopped, knew that it must have stopped to rest... but where?

Ishmael felt crawling on his spine, and came to the horrifying conclusion that the 'where' was his own back.

"AAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAH! Get it off! Get it off! AAAAAAH!" Ishmael shouted while running about senselessly.

And suddenly, the dragonfly fell to the floor, and Ishmael was relieved... as the guy who killed it was Genghis.

"Thanks... I would've been a goner..."

"Nah, you probably wouldn't... if you realized you could've just crushed the thing..."

"Oh yeah... shut up."

"Anyway, where do you reckon there's food..."

"I think that those corpses are our best shot..."

"Really? No... let's go further, I'm sure there'll be something better..."

Author's note: And no more. This could be a full story if I extended it any more... plus, now you don't know if they live or die... well, what do you prefer... ambiguity allows you to see an ending whichever way you like.

That's the beauty of the Mother Series... tons of ambiguity. Anyway, lecture over...

Thanks for all the reviews, everyone!


	36. 035: Storm

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

035: Storm

Fassad had prepared vastly... thunder tower had just been constructed in Murazaki Forest, and he had just started to get the point across that Happy Boxes make you... happy.

Fassad walked to the centre of the town, on the new pavilion where the well once stood.

"Everyone, here! Announcement time!"

The villagers gathered round, and Fassad began his speech.

"Everyone... I have just found out, by my cognitive abilities, that thunder will soon rain down upon all who are not happy... that includes those who say they're happy, but can't be, due to not having a happy box... and what's more, I hear that strange creatures are being formed in the bowels of Mother Nature... called..." Fassad paused and acted as if he was tapping into the future, "...Slitherhens... and Muttshrooms... yes, these are the ones. If you do not accept them and be kind to them, then Mother Nature may get... angry... and hurt you. And I do not wish harm among any of us... oh, lo and behold, what a perilous future lies ahead! But we can be safe... if we are happy... okay, that's all, folks. Any questions?"

"Yeah..." Nan said, "Where's the cute monkey you had the first time you were with us?"

"Um..." Fassad paused to think up a lie, "Oh... the horror... I saw, my lovely little Salsa... ripped to pieces... by a Drago... oh... oh... how I wish karma will attack it... but I shall wish for any harm to come to it through me, for I know no hate... oh, Salsa..." Fassad then began a mock cry.

"Oh... I'm sorry I asked..."

"It's okay... it makes me happy knowing that I can make this village happier... any more questions, preferably less emotionally damaging ones?"

"Erm..." Pusher cleared his throat while thinking what to say, "Who shall be... a pioneer and leader in the role of happiness?"

"Well... I am no leader... but merely a prophet of happiness... I guess..." Fassad paused to read the heart and kidneys of Pusher... and sensed a longing for power and leadership... and decided, "Ah... you... you are the leader of happiness of this village... you shall be given the title... mayor."

"Mayor? Oh... yeah! Yeah! I'm a mayor! Woohoo! Yeah! Yeah! Um, I mean... thanks for so generously giving me this role... I humbly accept it... Mr Fassad."

"Good... any more questions, people?"

"Yeah." said a calm, yet angered voice from behind Fassad, "Why is it that you claim to give happiness, yet YOUR chimera killed MY wife, draining ALL my happiness away from me!"

"Why, hello Flint." Fassad replied while turning around, "I didn't notice you there... say, how's the finding Claus business turning out?"

Flint simply pulled out the home-made knife he'd just found on Drago Plateau from his pocket, screamed, and attempted to stab Fassad.

Fassad dodged, and then Bronson jumped in front of Fassad.

"Flint! Stop! This won't help anything!"

"Yes it will! That guy is destroying this town! Can't you see? He turned Wess' house into an old peoples' home! He's evil!"

Fassad slowly got up from his ducking position, feigning weakness while saying "Bronson is right... killing me will only reduce this town's happiness... and you wouldn't want that, would you? Just because you feel like you will never be happy again doesn't mean you have to make everyone else feel bad..."

"I'm NOT! You will only make this town sad, Fassad. I hate you. Arrrgh!" Flint finally grunted, spat in Fassad's face, started walking away, and threw the home-made knife so hard into the ground that it simply stood on it's blade.


	37. 036: Spectral

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

036: Spectral

Jeff had done everything he could to get good grades... he continued his terms at his boarding school, continued at a top 6th form in Summers, achieved an A* in mathematics, along with three As in physics, chemistry, and mechanics. He'd gone to university, and went to the very best: Toxford University.

He'd graduated with first class honours, and surprisingly enough, Jeff's father, Dr Andonuts, was there to see him.

And he was now settled in a cushy lab job, though he occasionally worked as an electrician for... friends. And at the moment, Jeff was trying to achieve a spectral image for the Zexonyte that was used in the phase distorter he travelled in oh-so-long ago. This was a personal, out of interest job, though Jeff told the grant payers that it could help mankind.

The experiment had gone to plan... but... there wasn't something quite right. If this was an unknown element, an excellent catalyst and energy assister... then... it wouldn't have this spectrum. Judging by how few black stripes were in the spectrum, and how much colour was there, the element was heavy. Also, Jeff knew it was grey, crystalline, and evaporated easily into a purple vapour. Jeff observed where the black stripes were on the spectral image...

One right at the violet end... one in the deep blue section... and a whole space of black between indigo and blue. In the cyan section, the black stripes were far more frequent, and beyond that... no black marks, apart from a large one at the red end.

This spectrum looked familiar... now, what familiar element has that spectrum, is mainly crystalline, but evaporates into a purple vapour... oh...

No...

...It can't be... that couldn't have been the vital catalyst that helped them save the world... could it?

Jeff lost concentration as a fellow scientist junior to him walked into the room.

"Hi, Jeff. Say, why are you doing a spectral image of Iodine? Weren't you doing it for that unknown substance?"

"That's the thing, Paul... that IS the unknown. It's Iodine. Iodine came from space... Iodine somehow acted as a catalyst and energy assister... do you know what this means?"

"That you did the experiment wrong?"

"NO!" Jeff shouted "No, Paul, don't you understand science? Science isn't about accepting theories as the truth straight away... it's about seeing what evidence is there, seeing if it supports or disproves a theory... and right until now our current theories on thermodynamics were proved by experiment... but don't you see? This is the disproof... the thing that will force us to modify, expand, and improve our theory, and make it closer to the truth... now do you see? This is SCIENCE IN THE MAKING!"

"So... um... we're wrong about everything?"

"No... one aspect of the accepted theory is wrong... yeesh, did you even graduate from uni?"

"Um... yes, Jeff... but there's no need to be condoning, Jeff... I saw a lot of your father then... you know, the famous bloke..."

"Oh... sorry. But I'm excited about this! Seriously, this could change everything! Everything!"

"Eh... I'm happy... for you... eh..."

And with that Paul left the room, and said "Hey! Jeff's found something out! Hey!"


	38. 037: Carbon

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

037: Carbon

Carbon; a versatile substance, responsible for being part of almost every organic compound known to man, also part of the infamous compound that warms the globe... being both valuable and worthless depending entirely on molecular structure...

And Jeff knew this better than anyone else... but still couldn't help but long for the huge diamond ring in the jewellery shop window... you see, his girlfriend had been giving slight hints that she wanted to be proposed to, by mentioning having kids without any previous conversation prompting it, or by quoting various marriage superstitions and rhymes.

Unfortunately, even though the ring was perfect, there was one catch... the price-tag. The price tag read a figure so large that if it was a scientific value, it'd be written in standard form... 5 X 107 dollars... aka 50 million bucks. Jeff understood... the ring WAS made of platinum, and there was not only a massive diamond on the ring, but several semi-precious gems studding the entire circumference of it. Jeff was in awe...

But Jeff knew he couldn't afford it... it was more than 300 times his annual salary, and Jeff earned a ton anyway. Jeff wondered how the shop would ever sell it.

Then an idea struck Jeff... one that would save him money, but definitely not time.

He'd make his own engagement ring. Operation Diamond Synthesis had begun.

The ring was easy... simply melt the platinum catalyst from the old banger he still had after years of having an Aston Martin, mould it, and cool it... as if Carmen would notice a rogue speck of Palladium...

However, his main problem was forming Diamond cheaply... he had attempted to form it by subliming regular, Joe-Bloggs graphite, and cooling it to form a crystal... but no... it was always impure, some solidifying as graphite still, leaving a slightly blackened, skew-if shaped crystal. Jeff tried again... and again... but to no avail.

So he concluded that there wasn't enough carbon. After donating a bit of his own skin, extracting every last atom of carbon, and adding it to the quasi-diamond, subliming, cooling, and reforming, it still was imperfect... but better than before. It looked... different. A bit cooler, more... stylish, with a marbled pattern of black and colourless on the surface. He cut the diamond to a brilliant-cut shape, and inserted it into the ring with precision.

Jeff was ready to propose... so, the next day (11:30 on a working day is hardly a good time to propose) he went to his girlfriend's house in Toto, and fixed his tie and straightened his jacket. The ring was hidden in his right sleeve, and he planned to propose at Summers' famous restaurant.

Carmen was upstairs when Jeff had entered, and was putting on her clothes. When decent, she went downstairs to greet Jeff.

"Hi, hon." she said, kissed him on the cheek, and continued "So, why are we going out?"

"Um... just felt like treating us... so, ready to go?"

"You never were good with women, were you?" Carmen jokingly said, "What are you hiding?"

"Um... nothing, let's go..." Jeff said, quickly walking out the door, signalling Carmen to follow.

"Jeff, be careful at the..." Carmen said before hearing Jeff trip up, "...step."

She walked outside to find the once suave-looking Jeff a mess on the front garden. Next to his right hand was a glittering object.

"Jeff... are you alright... wait, what's that next to your hand?"

"What's what next to my hand?"

"That... that... oh my god... that's an... an... en... engage... OH JEFF!"

"...Eh... ain't no fooling you, eh?" Jeff said, while picking up the slightly dirty ring.

"Oh... it's beautiful... I've never seen black diamonds before... and is that Palladium? My, my, what have you done here exactly?"

"Well, let's just say there's a little piece of me in that diamond..."

"Um... maybe I'd like to stay blissfully unaware of what you did to MAKE this ring, but the answer is yes, Jeff. It's yes. Now lets see you synthesize your way out of wedding costs..."

Author's note: Two chapters in a row with a hell of a lot of scientific jargon. Hope you can cope with it. Please say so if not. So, what do you think of Jeff's fiancée? Definitely a nice complementary character to Jeff... quick witted, socially aware, but still intelligent. Oh yeah. I'm getting arrogant, I fear.


	39. 038: Tables

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

038: Tables

Ness was only six, and so was Pokey, and both were at school, and coming up was Ness' least favourite lesson; maths.

"Okay, class. Yesterday we talked about how you can add something up several times in a row, and how you just... count 'til you get there... essentially."

Ness thought the teacher didn't explain things very well. He knew that adding up was putting to numbers together, but putting more than two together at the same time was hard...

"...well, if you add lots of the same number together, you can write it a shorter way by writing this sign..." the teacher continued, and drew what looked like an 'x' on the blackboard.

"And this sign means 'times'. Now, I'll show you how to use it. So... Pokey, what's two plus two plus two plus two?"

"Um... uh..." Pokey quickly scrambling in his seat, as if looking for his fingers, and then slowly counted on them, "...eight!"

"Very good. Now, this is a pain to write out... so you instead write '2 times 4'... because you added two up four times? Got it?"

Ness decided to speak up, "...No... I don't... why is there an 'x' there? Why is it four? How did Pokey get eight for the first sum? What's going on?"

"Wow, maths really isn't you subject, is it?" Pokey mocked.

As per usual in a primary school, the main crowd of children encouraged the cruelty inflicted by Pokey, instead of shutting him up like regular, kind human beings.

Ness felt awful... how could he not get it... all the other kids seemed to...

Pokey didn't care though... he was on a mission to hurt Ness, "Hey, idiot, what's 2 times 3?"

"Um... um... five?"

"Ha, wrong! It's one! Numbskull!"

"Actually..." the teacher interrupted to stop the charade, "You're both wrong... it's six. So Pokey, you are the numbskull. Leave Ness alone. Or else I'll tell everyone about the idiocy you come up with in English."

Ness and Pokey were silenced. That was... not typical of a primary school teacher... not only did it shock Ness that he dealt with a bully instead of condoning it like most, but also shocked Pokey into submission.

Ness had a new respect for the teacher... even though he still didn't know what 'times' meant.

"So, I'll go over it again. If you add two five times, it's the same as times-ing two by five. And that gives you ten either way."

Ness thought... and thought... and then it clicked. "So... um, sir, if you do five add five, that's like five times two, and it'll give the same answer as two times five... right?"

"Right. Good job, Ness. You know, this warrants a sticker... here, one for being smart and working things out for yourself."

Pokey was enraged. "SIR! How come I don't get a sticker! I did two times four! I'm smart!"

"But you clearly didn't get the rules of multiplication... that's a special word for times-ing, class... because you thought two time three was one. So you don't."

Pokey turned red, and screamed diminutively, and stormed out of Onett school in a huff. The whole class laughed at him on his way out. Pokey tried to shrug it off, but took every chuckle to heart. He began to notice that people weren't kind... they were cruel.

Soon it was playtime, and every child rushed out of the room, and soon the teacher was all alone with his paperwork... but one child re-entered.

"Oh, Ness. What is it?"

"Um... thank you, Sir. I can't stand up to Pokey, and you helped me. Thank you."

"Wow. That's surprisingly mature of you, Ness. You'll be smart, thoughtful adult when you're older. And as far as Pokey's concerned, just remember he's only doing that because he's insecure... that means he isn't sure what people think of him... he thinks that unless he verbally attacks people, he'll be under verbal assault."

"What's 'verbal assault'?"

"Never mind. You'll know one day. And when you do, remember what I said. Try to understand Pokey... I don't want him to turn out a horrible adult too."

Author's note: See, harsh and fair. My favourite type of teacher.

If you're wondering the relation between maths and tables, well over here in England (I don't know if they use this phrase in America) we teach multiplication to kids by using 'times tables'- massive grids of numbers showing what each multiple of a given number is. Sorry to have to explain, but you may be wondering 'What the hell is that Duwee Davis guy doing? Why does he put 'ou' instead of just 'o' in 'colour' and 'favourite'? What's going on in this story? I'm lost...'

Well, I... can't answer all your questions, but feel free to PM me about anything to do with these short stories. I'm in a state of mental quickness at the moment.


	40. 039: Water

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

039: Water

EVE had been resting in hibernate mode for decades... and was beginning to rust.

Meanwhile Ninten and co. had just had to deal with the mortal debilitation of Teddy, and Loid wasn't exactly... useful as a replacement.

Loid was determined to be though "Look, there must be something I need to do here. Otherwise I wouldn't have returned to the party... it is just how RPGs work..."

"I thought RPGs were rocket launchers..." Ninten replied.

"They are, but, they're also role playing games... you know, like the one we're in..." 

"What are you talking about, Loid?" Ana replied.

"Oh, nothing. Can't a guy break the fourth wall every now and then? Sheesh. Anyways, there should be something mechanical or something that needs to be fixed..."

"Actually, there's a speedboat near the lake. I never thought about the lake..." Ninten remembered.

"Well, let's go! I'll fix it! I'll take us on the lake!"

"Well... remember to use your plasma beams... there's a load of Oh-mooks ahead."

"Okay, okay."

So the three walked out of the mountain cabin they were staying in, and prepared. And, as Ninten forewarned, a group of three Oh-mooks attacked.

Ana used PSI-block on all three and the pathetic aliens looked sheepishly as they failed and failed at casting PSI spells. Then the three kids somewhat mercilessly beat them to near death with baseball bats, frying pans and plasma beams.

"Good job, guys. Ana, we wouldn't have done it without you..."

Ana blushed and looked at Ninten, remembering their little dance. Ninten smiled back, and Loid broke them up by shouting from the speedboat.

"Come on! Come here! You can kiss while we're in the lake, but not while you're vulnerable!"

Loid was right. And they should probably save affection for later anyway... a lot of danger awaited them.

The two boarded the newly-fixed boat, and Loid drove them into the centre of the lake.

"Say, nice view from here, isn't..."

But before he could finish, a whirlpool carried the speedboat, and it's passengers, into the bowels of the Lake itself...

But the lake bottom wasn't... wet... or overgrown... but metallic. Familiar music played in the giant halls and Ninten remembered getting a bottle rocket from the top of the Sweet Little's factory.

They eventually came across a somewhat rusty robot. Ninten cautiously touched it, and it responded with "I AM EVE. GEORGE BUILT ME TO PROTECT NINTEN. YOU ARE NINTEN."

Loid was fascinated... the building quality of this robot was almost certainly proof that it was hand-made, yet everything was finely tuned function-wise, suggesting a total expert created it. Loid admired this 'George' fellow, whoever he may be.

"Loid... um... I know that EVE's awesome and all... but... the windows... they're cracking... and soon... we'll all be..."

And with that the metal base flooded. Ninten's sentence was corrected by EVE, after they reached the banks of Lake Itoi.

"YOU SHALL NOT DIE. I SHALL ASSURE IT. I AM YOUR GUARDIAN. LOOK."

And with that, EVE shot an Oh-mook in the eye with a laser gun attachment on its arm.

"I AM POWERFUL. I SHALL KEEP YOU SAFE. FEEL FREE TO USE ME TO HELP GAIN EXP."

So Ninten took EVE's advice, and took on several Oh-mooks while EVE wiped each clean off the face of the earth.

Ninten was so happy with his new robot that he decided to skip over to the mountain cabin and show the robot to the bed-bound Teddy. But a robotic voice stopped the group mid-skip.

"YOU. NINTEN. YOU SHALL STOP HINDERING GIEGUE NOW. I SHALL ELIMINATE YOU."

The voice wasn't coming from EVE... it was coming from the sky. A familiar looking robot, with a new paint-job and extra parts, fell into vision as it turned it's rocket boots off.

"YOU SHALL DIE NOW. NO TANK. NO LOID. NO AMOUNT OF EXP SHALL SAVE YOU NOW. I SHALL SUCCEED. AND YOU SHALL FAIL. AND I WILL GET UPGRADED BY GIEGUE, AND BECOME THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON THIS SIDE OF THE GALAXY. HA. HA. HA."

"Since when did R7038 speak?" Ninten whispered to Ana.

"Since when did R7038 become so megalomaniacal?" Ana replied in whisper.

"YOU ARE BOTH WRONG. I AM R7038XX. AND I HAVE A MEGALOMANIA CHIP SPECIALLY BUILT IN. IT WAS PART OF THE UPGRADE. BUT IT IS FUTILE TO ABSORB THIS INFORMATION, FOR YOUR DEATH IS IMMINENT."

R7038XX pointed its massive laser cannon directly over Ninten, but EVE dived at the giant robot.

"NO. NINTEN'S DEATH IS NOT IMMINENT. I SHALL ATTACK YOU IN LEAU OF YOU ATTACKING MY NEW MASTER. LETS FIGHT."

"AGREED. AFTER YOU ARE DESTROYED, MY JOB KILLING NINTEN SHALL BE EASIER. THIS IS A GOOD IDEA FOR ME, AND A FLAW FOR YOU. TIME TO BECOME SCRAP METAL."

Ninten, Ana and Loid simply watched in awe as the two robots duked it out, smashing HP amounts off each other that were unimaginably high.

"Should we do something?"

"No. It's a waste of effort. These guys have the battle more than covered."

"Fine."

After the almost indescribable battle, which I shan't bother to describe, there were two piles of metal. One was considerably bigger than the other.

Ninten observed the smaller pile of metal. It was once EVE. And what's more, it was still speaking.

"THERE... IS... THERE IS... ONE LAST THING... I MUST DO... GEORGE PROGRAMMED ME TO... OH... I CAN'T AUTOMATICALLY DO IT. CHECK MY INNARDS OUT... AND MANUALLY ACTIVATE... DOUBLE GLAZED MEDIA PLAYER..."

Ninten then heard a crunch, a clank, and a mechanical wheeze. EVE had ceased to be.

And checking it out caused a seventh haunting melody to play into Ninten's memory...


	41. 040: Steel

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

040: Steel

"Enough! *cough* *cough* *wheeze*. Enough of your... resistance. You shall make the animals of this island... cooler... for me. If you don't... I'll ensure your fate is unpleasant and thoroughly destructive. So... do you agree?" Porky insistently demanded.

"No. Your designs are preposterous, not to mention cruel. You are a horrific excuse for a human being, and I demand that I will be taken back to my time-line." Dr Andonuts resolutely replied. 

"Oh... what... strength of character..." Porky mocked, and then slashed at Doctor Andonuts' face with a mech leg, "It's such a shame that it's physical strength that saves you in this world..."

"You have neither! All you have technology, you worthless, frail, pig-boy!"

Porky struck the scientist hard enough to knock his right over.

"You... *cough*... didn't listen... did you? You will... or... or... you shall die... so... do you accept?" 

"Eh... fine. I hate you, but fine. But... your ideas... they only look good. Most of them will never work in real life!"

"WELL MAKE THEM WORK! *cough* *gasp* *wheeze* *gasp* *cough* *wheeze*... you're the scientist... you alter them slightly, and make something that does work. And if I don't get my power-drill moles by next month... you'll be experiencing a whole new world of pain reserved for my... worst enemies..."

"Like the four heroic young ones you subjected to a world of pain for no good reason! Don't you remember Ness? The boy who destroyed Giygas."

"Ha... I remember his mother better than anyone else... ha... ha... ha..."

"You sicken me. You honestly do. Just so you know, Ness didn't die then."

"Say what?"

"Nope. His soul re-entered his organic body in this present. He survived, and no doubt lived a happy, long life. You lost in that sense, your highness." Dr Andonuts made sure that the 'your highness' was said in the most scornful, hateful way possible.

"...it is only a minor affair to me. Ness was a pathetic small fry, and even he won't be able to stop me when I get my army. Speaking of which, I've got to go and gather it. Oh, but you stay in this era. The future suits you a lot... plus, I know you won't escape to anywhere if I leave you here... now... GET ON WITH YOUR WORK!"

With that, Porky disappeared to another era, leaving several crudely-drawn blueprints, and a note saying 'Make these cool animals. If you don't, you'll soon wish you did.'. Andonuts soon realized that threats were Porky's only form of negotiation...


	42. 041: New

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

041: New

Ness had just turned 12, and the day after his birthday he had the bad luck to notice that one of his greatest passions was on offer... but just after he had received his lot of gifts for the half-year.

The advert persuaded so well...

"Kids and grown-ups alike! The manly time of the season has arrived! It's the brand new... Eagleland National Baseball League's officially endorsed... Sand-lot bat! It is a finely crafted, wooden baseball bat, with enough weight to deliver power to the home run, yet light enough to swing like a beauty! You don't wanna miss this offer... 120$ only for this super-valuable collector's item... get yours at the Twoson department store now for a limited time only!"

Ness stared at the TV, drooling. He had never wanted anything more. His dad had given him 100$ via his bank account for his birthday, and various relatives got his money count up to 115$. His mum had given him several presents, like a striped shirt, and a brand new yellow back-pack. But that was 5 dollars short...

Ness was pretty sure he could muster it up from somewhere. So he took his cracked bat along, and walked to Twoson. Fortunately, the roadblocks weren't up, and Onett wasn't in a state of emergency.

When he got there, the department store had flagged out where the Sand-lot bat was. There was a massive sign pointing to a guy next to the sports section.

"Hey there, kid. I presume you wanna buy a Sand-lot bat? Well, that'll be 120 clams, if you please." the guy almost instantly said upon seeing Ness.

"Um... can I sell something... I only have 115 dollars..." Ness said.

"Well, what have you got?"

"A guitar pick, a picnic lunch, a broken mobile phone, and a play-station memory card."

"Um... none of those interest me. Sorry kid."

Ness understood, and forlornly turned around, and dragged his feet on the floor, and hung his arms down low. He was holding his cracked bat in his hands, and the scraping was brought to the guy's attention.

"Hey, kid, wait! That bat... it's in semi-good condition. I'll buy that for five dollars... so... you want the Sand-lot?"

Ness' dream had come true. "Yes! Yes! YES! Okay, I will."

So Ness gave the 115$ to the guy, and then gestured to give the cracked bat to him... but his heartstrings stopped him.

"Well, go on, kid..."

Ness looked at the cracked bat, then at the Sand-lot... it didn't evoke any... charismatic aura around itself... like the cracked bat did.

He was torn. Old... new... old... new... old... new...

Then he decided, "Sorry. I'll take the money back, you can sell that bat to someone else. This little beauty isn't for sale. He's my baby... aren't you?" Ness paused, seemingly for a response, and then continued, "Sorry for wasting your time. I've realized that sometimes you don't need to change to be happy. I love this bat!"

With that, Ness left the confused clerk, ran home, and played baseball with Katie and Picky.


	43. 042: Three

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

042: Three

Ana and Ninten held hands as they witnessed several people in stasis due to Giegue speaking. Ana said softly, "Three is the magic number..."

"What did you say?" Ninten said back in confusion.

"Three... it's magic."

"There is no such thing as magic." Loid said.

"Yes there is. What do you call PSI?" Ana bluntly replied.

"Extra-sensory perception and psychokinesis. Not magic."

"Anyway, why did you mention that... this is a serious moment here..." Ninten more validly pointed out.

"Because I was thinking... three elemental PSI moves, three points on the hats of those... imaginary... Magicanteans, three people ready to save the world..."

Ninten and Loid smiled at the prospect. They were heroes.

"Anyway, I think there's been threes everywhere that we've been. There's always three services per town- hotel, hospital and drugstore, for example."

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'm just not the superstitious type... plus, there are four elemental PSI moves- Fire, Thunder, Freeze and Beam." Loid said.

"You count beams as an element?" Ana quickly fired back at Loid.

"Well, if you count Fire, thunder and freeze, yes, because none of them are 'true elements' anyway, just perceived greek-style ones. I can list the true elements... Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen..." 

"That's enough, Loid." Ninten said as if speaking for the whole room of stasis-ridden people, "Ana likes three, and that's okay. Let's just leave it at that. Anyway, we have some singing to do in the next cave-room... I think. That Queen Mary woman talked about how she sang the tune to Giegue, right? I think that's what we have to do."

"Okay. Let's go!"

Author's note: Ha ha! I'm finished! Not this Fanfic, silly, but Poopbound! It's done! See the showcase and download link at this Youtube address; if you want it, that is...

.com/watch?v=A9MDRbKsOuo

Sorry if this chapter's too short...


	44. 043: Masked

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

043: Masked

Porky surveyed the plateau that was now under Pigmask control. The Mecha-Drago... was not a success.

"How can it be dead?" Porky asked Fassad, who had accompanied him, "How can it?"

"Well, it's not just unconscious. Look at this wound, here. What kind of thing can pierce Drago hide? Only its own tooth. Don't you see? These villagers are smarter than we thought."

"Ha, maybe not. Look, it's a kid. He's also dead... probably 'cos he was so dumb that he fought the Mecha-Drago! Ha ha ha *cough* *wheeze*... ha ha ha!"

Fassad hated Porky with a passion at this moment... and wanted to prove him wrong. So he checked the boy for any life-force.

"You're wrong, Porky. He's still alive... just about. And... OH! Oh, my... um..."

"What is it, you camp arab?"

Fassad gritted his teeth in anger, and continued, "Nothing that concerns you. We should just leave him to die. It's for the best..."

"No... what have you found out?"

"Nothing." Fassad calmly replied.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT! *Cough* *cough* *gasp* *gasp* *wheeze*... no funny business. What is it, Magypsy?"

Fassad couldn't be bothered to hide it any more. "...He's able to pull Needles..."

"WHAT? And you were going to hide that from me? I warn you, Fassad, you show any signs of defiance and I WILL make short work of you. You understand?"

"He's going to die anyway... there's no way to save him."

"You know PSI... can't that help?"

"No... his body has decided that it'll die. There is no way to stop it..."

"Oh yes there is... I'll force him to live, I know just the guy. You wouldn't happen to know Dr Andonuts, would you, Fassad?"

Fassad read Porky's mind. "Yes. He's a man from your time era who you forced to work for you. He's highly intelligent and only serves you out of fear."

"Very good... I'll have to wear a tinfoil hat next time..."

Fassad ignored Porky, and decided not to tell him that tinfoil doesn't affect Telepathy in the slightest.

Porky was done waiting for a response, and said, "Well, follow me to his Chimera Lab... unless you can teleport there..."

"Well where is it?"

"Murazaki Forest. Be there... or be square... literally."

So Fassad ran around on the spot, and disappeared. He reappeared in Murazaki Forest, charred as usual. After walking off the ash, he simply followed the stampede of ostrelephants to Chimera Lab. After waiting about an hour, Porky appeared, carrying the orange-haired boy with two of his mech's pincers. Dr Andonuts exited Chimera Lab.

"Oh... it's you. And, who's this?" Andonuts semi-greeted the pair.

"I'm Loc..."

"...he's Fassad. He's a very special kind of transvestite, aren't you?"

"Shut up! Anyway, nice to meet you, I guess. Dr Andonuts, I presume?"

"Yes. Why are you here? If it's a check up, the sushi hot dog chimera is doing just great... in fact, it's quite tasty..."

"NO! We aren't here... to check up..."

"This boy..." Fassad continued for Porky, "...may be vital to our plans. But he is dying, and we need to ensure that he complies with us... so we need you to... to..."

"We need you to turn this little brat into a mechanical Chimera." Porky finished.

"Hmmm... okay. I've turned kids into robots before... so..."

"...we KNOW you did that... GET ON WITH IT!" Porky interrupted, refusing to hear any more about Ness.

Andonuts could tell that Porky wanted this badly. So he took the limp boy from Porky, and went back inside the Lab.

Fassad looked at Porky in disgust. "How can you treat people like this? I hate humans, and I don't do this to them! What the HELL is wrong with you?"

"NOTHING! THE QUESTION IS... *cough* *cough* *gasp* ...the question is... what is wrong with... you... Mr 'I have no gender'... Mr 'I only die when my needle's pulled... Mr 'I abandoned all my principals'..."

"You are terrible... not only as a person, but also at making insults. I don't have time for your crap. I'm going home."

Fassad proceeded to walk around in circles, and quickly disappeared.


	45. 044: Pork

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

044: Pork

Saturn valley, Nowhere islands: now sealed off from humans once again by a careless Pigmask Major.

"S0m30n3 S37 uS up 7H3 B0mB."

"1 kn0W 7H1S. 7unn3L g0 B00m. R0ckS 3V3ryWH3r3. N0W WHa7 B01ng?"

"W3 m0V3 r0ckS. W3 S7r0ng. W3 m0V3 W17H m1nD."

"0k3y D0k3y. Dak07a."

So the pair of Mr Saturns decided to start a full-on PSI Piggy Jelly assault on the pile of rocks blocking the tunnel. But to no avail.

"7H1S W0rkS n07. W3 HaV3 n0 S0m371ng 70 m0V3 r0ckS."

"1 HaV3 anSW3r! PK 7HunD3r B01ng!"

Thunder seemed to fall from the sky, hit the rocks, but nothing happened. The thunder didn't even make a noise as it hit the rocks.

"Y0u n07 Say1ng 17 1n r1gH7 Languag3... 17'S L1k3 7H1S... PK Thunder!"

Thunder struck the pile of rocks and with a crash, the rocks were destroyed.

"S33? 17 H3LPS 70 3ngL1SH kn0W. 3V3n 1F 0nLy a L177L3 B17 y0u kn0W."

The Mr Saturns then proceeded to walk through the cave.

"G00D 70 S33 7H1S caV3 aga1n."

"1 kn0W, 1 kn0W. WHa7 1S 7H1S V3H1cL3?"

The vehicle the Mr Saturn had seen was a bean-shaped vehicle, that floated in place.

"D0n'7 kn0W. W3 SH0uLD W0rk 0n 17. 17 n33DS a... Sa7urn'S 70ucH..."

Author's note: OH GOD! How hard it is to keep the Mr Saturn speech consistent! You don't know how long this took to write, even though it seems like a really short chapter! Arrrgh!

1 n33D a Br3ak B01ng. N00DL3 71m3! G00D13!


	46. 045: Mercury

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

045: Mercury

Lucas was running through a field.

A typical, rolling field filled with grass, sheep, pigs, and cows.

Claus ran to Lucas, seemingly originating from nowhere, and stopped to gasp for air.

"Long... time... no... see... Lucas..."

Lucas paused, looked at Claus in confusion, and said back, "Yeah. Long time no see. So, where were you."

"I don't know. You don't. You'll never know..."

All of a sudden, Claus' face turned into Fassad's greedy, wicked face, and he began to laugh.

"Nweheheheh! And you SHALL never see him again. You know that. You know that just like your mother, Claus is DEAD!"

Lucas turned to look at the animals. The pigs became anthropomorphic, and soon they were pigmasks. The cattle turned into Cattlesnakes, and the sheep became more and more charred, until they turned into ash itself.

Lucas screamed "No! No! That's not true. I hate you! You ruined this world..."

"No, I've made it better. Now watch as I truly ruin this world... nweheheheh!"

With that, Fassad disappeared from Lucas' view, and the sky proceeded to condense into a silver, flowing liquid. It flowed toward Lucas, and Lucas swam through it, and reached the surface. Above the sea of mercury was a black, star-filled sky. The stars arranged themselves to form... none other but Fassad's face, along with a Pigmask.

"Soon the world as you know it will be rewritten... soon you will become even more of an insignificant speck than you are at the moment. Now, say goodbye... PK Starstorm!"

And the heavens proceeded to open up, and barraged the distraught Lucas with a stream of stars.

Everything died, shrivelled until the entire world was black.

Lucas heard voices.

"Wake up! Wake up!"

"Oh, come on, Duster, that's not gonna work! Slap him, damn it!"

"No, I ain't slapping a kid. If you're so eager, you do it!"

Lucas then heard a bark that he knew meant "Hey, don't resort to that- Lucas is waking up..."

Lucas opened his eyes. Around him were Lucas, Kumatora, Duster, and several Mr Saturns.

"You've been out cold a long time... what happened, man, you just fainted." Duster explained to the groggy Lucas.

"Yeah, we and Duster thought you might have died!"

Boney barked, and meant "I didn't lose faith in you... don't listen to Psychic Psycho over there."

Lucas simply said "Let's... get the fourth needle already... I've had a deep sleep so I'll be fine when I come round. Not that it wasn't disturbing..."

"...What didja dream of?"

"I doesn't matter... thanks for considering slapping me to get me up though..."

Lucas walked out in front, and Kumatora simply whispered to Duster "See, I told you I was right."

Duster scowled and whispered back, "Shut up, don't you think it's good to be humane once in a while?"

"Oh, what a kind, sensitive individual! I think I'm in love!" Kumatora sarcastically retorted but really meant.

Author's note: YES! YES! The non-glitched version of Poopbound! Here! .com/?c9dbll0ync43s80 (Media fire is the site to download off)


	47. 046: Venus

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

046: Venus

Cupid has always been the God of lust, as has Eros. A lesser known God of love is the God Anteros. But, a familiar, and most popular Goddess of love, is Venus.

And Venus had her sights set on several couples.

She first time-travelled to the early 1980s. There she saw a young girl, dreaming.

Venus entered her mind, and observed her brain's subconscious ramblings... there was a boy, with a cap, and in the boy's hand was a hat with the name 'Ana'.

Standing and watching the boy was the girl- presumably Ana. Venus smiled, and cast her magic on the girl. It looked like she would've fallen in love with the boy anyway, but there's nothing wrong with a little... encouragement.

Venus then teleported to the big city Ellay. A doctor, on an island nearby, was twiddling his thumbs, doing nothing. Venus felt... cheeky. So she made him fall in love with the first food that Venus could think of... but why strawberry tofu?

Venus warped time, and became present in the '90s. She went to Eagleland, and found... a huge amount of problems. Love was needed, badly.

So she made almost everyone fall in love with someone... even accidentally making a schoolboy love... another boy. A nerdy type, too... awkward. Oh well, too late to undo.

She even made monkeys fall in love, and made a myna bird have the desire to fall in love. Venus was tired, but her transdimensional job was still not over.

Warping all the way to the not-so-distant future, the space being the Nowhere Islands, Venus observed... a primitive village. Lots of people in a small space... love could be dangerous if used wrongly...

...But still she cast her magic. A sprinkle of love on the resident drunk to keep his marriage alive, a dash on a blonde busybody... to force her to still respect her ever-flustered husband... and a quick softening of the heart for that tomboyish princess in that creepy castle... to make sure she CAN love at all.

It was mysterious, mischievous, and magical... but certainly not malevolent. Venus' day was over... it was now time to go to Apollo's bar, and drink her cares away...

Author's note: BTW before anyone over-reacts Tony is actually gay... Shigesaso Itoi even confirmed it in an interview...

Oh, how I love writing! You may notice this is in a different style... I don't know, I felt like seen as the main character wasn't an EB-specific character that I could do a different tone... now wait for the next one, it shall arrive soon.


	48. 047: Earth

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

047: Earth

Kumatora was still young, and asked her guardian, which at the moment was Mixolydia, an important question.

"Missy, how big is the world?"

"As big as these islands." Mixolydia half-lied, "No more, no less. I think that's... pretty big. Too big to walk across."

"But how many miles? How many metres?"

"Oh, you are simply the cutest!" Mixolydia commented, seemingly ignoring Kumatora in a fit of adoration, and then thought about her response. "I don't know. I'm sure someone knows..."

"Then let's ask them! Let's ask Aeolia and Doria and Lydia and everyone else!"

"Yes... Princess Kumatora. Ocho, come on, we're going."

Ocho simply nodded, and took the pink haired couple to the mainland, and Tazmily village.

"Now, we need to be totally invisible so people don't see you..."

"Why?"

"Um, never mind... just hold my hand." Mixolydia then performed an ability not seen for a while...

"4th D-slip!" she called, and she and Kumatora flipped and vanished, or so it seemed.

They reappeared after a while, and got to Aeolia's house without a resident villager knowing anything of Kumatora or her Magypsy guardian.

Kumatora naturally burst in (she wouldn't gain any extra manners with age) and asked Aeolia "How big's the Earth?"

Aeolia paused, saw Mixolydia enter, and said, "Why, I'm not sure. I think it's a little bigger than these islands, because there's sea around the islands, right? Then I think the world... ends and a massive waterfall is at the edge of the world..."

"Where does the water fall into?" Kumatora retorted.

Aeolia thought keeping the Earth flat would make it easier for a child to understand, not harder. Oh well, she can't take it back now...

"Somewhere called space... a black, strange place, with monsters and things called Starmen in it."

"Are they the stars in the sky..."

"No, they're people from the stars." Aeolia proceeded to burst into unnecessary song.

Starman, who knows PSI...

He'll be on guard for one turn, then he'll poke you in the eye...

"Ha, pretty funny." Mixolydia chuckled, "So, you don't know how big it is in metres? That's what the little girl was after..."

"Um, no... but I can sing again for you if you like."

"Yeah! Yeah! Aeolia's funny! Sing more songs!"


	49. 048: Mars

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

048: Mars

Giegue was relaxing in his mother ship after a long day plotting, scheming, and doing other evil dastardly things that I shall not describe in detail.

A Blue Starman entered Giegue's private chamber. Giegue eyed him like he was the cause of all the universe's stupidity.

"Um... Master Giegue... I was... *click* wondering... why is it we are trying to take over Earth? What resources and use does it have? It's a known fact there is far more iron and resources for us on the red planet next to Earth."

Giegue plotted his answer carefully... should he comment on the fact that the hapless Starman just invaded his private quarters without permission? Or should he just answer the question and have a conversation?

Giegue decided it'd be more entertaining for the latter.

"...I do not know. I was tasked by my people to take over this planet, but I do believe a good reason for capturing Earth is the presence of sentient beings that could be useful as slaves..."

"So we're not using the planet for resources? If we drain the planet of resources, our potential slaves would *click* die..."

"Ha... we could kidnap them, keep them in stasis, and wake them when we have successfully synthesized a world capable of sustaining their kind, and then we make them work! Ha! For an on the spot plan, that was awesome! I'm such a genius!"

"Master... how do we know that the red planet does not contain sentient beings? Surely by the study of human nature we have revealed that there is much resilience in humankind's attitude... they would not be good slaves. Perhaps Martians would be... more willing to work..."

"Humans have enough stupidity to enslave members of their own species based on superficial things like skin colour- they are stupid enough to themselves become slaves for the sake of survival. When it comes down to it, the thing humans call 'quality of life' does not matter, as long as they have life... they are fools. They'll be perfect."

With that, Giegue pulled off an expression on his face that could only be described as a warped, somewhat hilarious yet clearly malevolent grin.

"But Master... we could just enslave both species..." 

"What's your obsession with Mars, Blue Starman 5186? Our scout ships have not yet found any signs of life on that planet, only human camera devices. We cannot invade a planet which we aren't even certain contains life- it'd be a waste of time and resources. Well, anyway, my superiors wish for me to seize Earth, so I shall do that first."

"Yes, Master. Would you like me to prepare a vial of nutrient-rich solution?"

"Yes, please, 5186... I need a vial right now- I'm fatigued."

But when the Starman finished preparing the vial, he dropped the glass-like container and it smashed on the floor, due to the artificial gravity on the mother ship.

"What is it, 5186? You're not usually this incompetent..."

"Th-th-th-that... look, on the radar..."

Giegue walked to where his vial had been prepared, and noticed on one of the many screens there that an oddly-designed space ship not seen by either Earth craft or Starman craft alike was appearing on the radar.

Another Starman rushed towards Giegue.

"M-m-m-master! Master, I there is an unidentified space craft that has been detected! It's also able to transmit radio-wave based communication! It claims that it wants to see 'our leader'... that's you."

Reluctantly, Giegue left his private chamber to see for himself.

The message played "We shall not ask you to take us to your leader, but we shall ask for contact with your leader."

Giegue responded "I am their leader. Who are you? How do you know the Earth language we speak? Where are you from?"

"We are from a red planet we call 'Sebulla', but Earthlings seem to name our planet 'Mars'. You seem almost affiliated with Earth somehow. Are you intending to attack it?"

Giegue responded, "Yes... I take it you knew because we are so immersed in Earth culture."

"No, it is due to having, like your species, mild telepathy and telekinesis known as PSI."

"Oh..."

"If you are, then I wish you the best of luck, as humans would say. We are sick of the humans sending 'Rovers' to our planet. I wish that you will stop them before they set foot on Sebulla themselves. However their donation of glass to Sebulla through camera lenses is unintended but useful. Regardless, we have nothing to gain from their existence, so please carry on with your invasion. We won't get in your way."

The sound player then crackled with static, and went silent. The Blue Starman looked at Giegue, and said "What is the phrasing... I told you so?"

Giegue simply said, "Fine, you were right."

Author's note: It's nice to depict a villain in a light-hearted way...


	50. 049: Jupiter

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

049: Jupiter

Duwee Davis II sat down, with his laptop on his knees.

Thoughts ran through his mind, like "What should I do for this chapter? It's obvious that the prompt is Jupiter, but what can I do? A story about the planet Jupiter is all too obvious, especially after the last chapter to do with Martians and the like..."

Then it hit him; make a poem! Yeah a poem's fresh, they'd never see what's coming... oh wait my thoughts have been written down. Damn... hi there, readers! Incredibly obvious Mary-Sue here! Anyway, a poem;

Said the Violent Roach to the water flea

"I am much bigger than thee,

I can fly around and attack humans,

and watch DVDs with main characters called Truman."

The water flea replied and said,

"The DVD hasn't been invented yet,

It's only 199X,

and even if it is around,

no-one can afford it, so cease your sound."

Not to let his arrogance die,

The roach, he gave it one more try,

And laughed at the aquatic creature,

Who was in a Saturnian water feature.

"I do believe you didn't hear,

The starting of my speech, I fear.

I'm laughing at your puny size,

You cannot deny it, for that'd be lies."

The water pondered hard,

He wanted to show up that retard,

So he began to think, and then it came,

A way to make that dumb bug sane.

"Oh Mr Roach, I see, I see,

Your size, it makes you better than me.

Size is power, you assume it to be so,

So what is Earth's power, oh ho ho ho?"

"The planet Earth isn't all that strong,

It simply sits there all day long.

Nothing here is better than me,

I shall attack these kids with glee!"

The children in question were easily seen,

There were many places that they had been,

So when the violent roach attacked them,

He got a lot more crushed and flattened.

The insect, when he recovered said,

"Wow... that almost made me dead!

See, this proves that I am right,

Because they were large, I lost the fight."

"You still don't get, do you, fool?

Size-power complexes just aren't cool.

Think of Jupiter, what has that done?

Compared to Earth, and the great sun?"

"Well, the sun I understand,

It's greater than all of this land!

But Jupiter is super large too,

So it should better than all Earth too!"

"But if that was the case then why,

Haven't Jupitans passed us by?

Because they simply don't exist,

The planet is merely fog and mist."

"But Earth is tiny, Jupiter's huge,

There's no way that it's going to lose,

In significance, Earth is feeble,

While Jupiter is a haven for evil!"

"You don't know that, my roachy friend,

You're making facts up at the end,

And coming up with things in time,

To make every sentence rhyme."

"I don't, I don't, the truth I tell,

Compared to Jupiter, Earth is hell!

Because it's so much bigger there,

The living conditions must be fair."

"In that case, why not just go there?

The flight cannot be hard to bear.

Why not whisk yourself away,

I shan't miss you, or what you say."

"For once, I agree with you, little flea,

You do well to not argue with me,

Well now, I'm off, I'll see you later,

When you get to Jupiter on a space freighter."

And with that, the roach began to fly

And many months did pass him by.

It's unknown if he ever got there,

Ever since he took on that dare.

The water flea, he simply chuckled,

The roach couldn't go to all that trouble,

And if he did, it is his loss,

As he'd spend eternity in space-like frost.

Author's note: Um, hi there! I wrote about myself! But even though I was joking, I genuinely did find it hard to come up with a story for this prompt... I hope this is not a disappointment. 'Saturn' will be much easier to write for, considering this is Earthbound. But that means I have to write in Sa7urn1an... a L07 B01ng.


	51. 050: Saturn

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

050: Saturn

Master Belch and his zombie cohorts were, as usual, up to something.

"*Burrrrrrp* You! Farm zombie! Look, there's a victim now!"

"But I can't just grab it... it can see us. Surely we wait 'til it isn't looking, and THEN kidnap it?"

"No... just ask it."

"What?"

"Just ask it if will work for me and make fly honey..."

"Okay."

And so the farm zombie walked up to the 'victim'- a Mr Saturn.

"Hello there, Mr... Mr Saturn."

Belch was mouthing something at the zombie from a distance, but he couldn't quite make out what he was saying.

Onion? Turbulence? Fraternal? Oh, Saturnian, of course.

"S0rry. 1 m3an7 70 Say H3LL0 7H3r3 Mr Sa7urn. W0uLD y0u L1k3 j0B B01ng?"

"Sur3 B01ng. G37 Fr13nDS 70 j01n 700."

The farm zombie smirked, and replied, "G00D13!" and walked back to Master Belch.

"He's bringing friends as well! This is too easy. Good job on the plan, boss!"

"They are the most naïve creature of them all... but I still don't know where on earth they came from..."

So days passed, and Mr Saturns were working in Belch's state-of-the-art Fly Honey factory.

They did, however, come to get used to the conditions.

"1 D1Dn'7 kn0W FL13S W3r3 SucH S0c1aL cr3a7ur3S..."

"1 D1Dn'7 317H3r... 7H3y W0rk HarD B01ng."

It was true... the flies were bustling within Mr Saturn-style artificial hives, feeding their maggots inside honeycombs, and processing carrion-based nutrients into a fine syrup.

"17'S a SHaM3 7Ha7 7H3y D0n'7 uS3 n3c7ar..."

"B3LcH L1k3S D3aD 7H1ngS B01ng. 7Ha7'S WHy 7Hr33D 1S z0MB13 FuLL."

"S0... H0n3S7!"

The Mr Saturns then stopped their banter, as they heard what sounded like a massive sentient pile of vomit wolfing down a sticky substance. Then sounds of rockets being fired, bats hitting sludge, and magic being used followed. Then a voice spoke:

"Looks like it was an even fight... *buurp*... but Master Giygas has managed to get the Mani Mani statue into Fourside. The city will soon be in a worse condition than living in your own puke! Suffer, spanky! Gha, gha, gha, gha, gha! *Buurrp*!"

The two Mr Saturns looked at each other, and one finally said, "1 7H1nk 0ur j0B 1S 0v3r..."

Author's note: I did it! I'm half way! Thanks for all the support, guys! Seriously, without someone reviewing this, I'd have just given up on it. But instead, it's here! And it's gonna keep on going 'til 100! Yeah!

Seriously though, thanks. PM me if there's anything you'd like to talk about EB-wise! I looooove discussions!


	52. 051: Uranus

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

051: Uranus

Ness, Paula, and Jeff were in Fourside hotel, and Paula was fast asleep. Ness had different ideas, though...

"Hey Jeff..."

"What, Ness..."

"Hey Jeff..."

"Yes, what?"

"How... big... is..." Ness stopped to giggle like a five year-old.

"How big is what?"

"How big is... Uranus! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"

All the laughing woke up Paula. No-one must come between a girl and her sleep, and Paula intended to teach Ness his lesson right there and then.

"What the hell do you think you're laughing at? I'm trying to sleep here! I'm sure Jeff wants to go to sleep too! What's wrong with you? Why are you laughing anyway?"

Ness, in the pitch black, couldn't be seen still smirking by Paula, so he simply maintained his grin and said, "I was just asking Jeff how big... Uranus is! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Ness, shut up, please." Jeff mumbled, "There's other guests here you know... please be quiet..."

"Oh, but I really feel excitable still! Can't we go down to the bar or something?"

"No... we can't." Paula firmly scolded.

"Wait, Paula. Ness, feel free to go to the bar. We won't stop you. But we're not going too."

"Okay. See ya!"

And with that, Ness got up, walked out the room and went to the Hotel bar. When he got there, a bartender said, "Hey, kid, you're underage! Don't you dare think of buying booze here, okay?"

"Be quiet and take this money..." Ness said, while giving a ton of his Dad's hard-earned cash to the tender.

The guy held the money up to the light to check it was real, and said, "Fine, smart guy. Whaddya want?"

"A slager dandy..."

"Heh... you mean Lager shandy. Sure thing, lightweight. Anything else?"

"Not yet..."

Many hours passed, and Ness was still drinking.

"I... I don't... CARE... if you don't... don't want me to... I want another DRINK. I... I need another..."

"Kid, you're way over the limit... if you get caught, I'll be so dead... just go to sleep or something..."

Ness proceeded to throw up on the floor, and then said to the bartender, "I like you... do you know how... har... do you... har har... do you know how big Uranus is... heh heh har har..." Ness slurred a few more syllables from his warped smiling mouth, and then collapsed on the floor, next to his vomit.

The vomit proceeded to become a slimy little pile, and looked at Ness, and said, "Damn alcoholic teenagers... all over these days." and left the bar while the Bartender stared in awe.

The morning after, and Paula and Jeff felt fantastic.

"Wow, my PP is fully recovered! I know this happens every time I stay at a hotel, but it's still amazing! Wow!"

"Where do you think Ness is?" Jeff asked while they passed the entrance to the bar. As if on cue, Ness stumbled out of that entrance.

"Good morning, Ness." Paula gloated. "You look like you had a GREAT time last night!"

"Shut up... oh, my aching head... say, Jeff, you wouldn't know how big Uranus is, would ya?"

Jeff simply ignored the hungover Ness, while Paula giggled at Ness' dumb attempt at being funny.

Author's note: Don't look at me like that. We all saw it coming... heh heh... anus.


	53. 052: Neptune

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

052: Neptune

Giegue was almost at his destination: Earth. He'd just passed Pluto, which meant he was in the Solar System. A good sign.

But, lo and behold, a bad sign just popped up.

A Starman rushed into Giegue's private chamber, and shouted, "The fusion reactors gone under 50 Kelvin! There's no way it will sustain itself at this rate! We need to re-ignite it!"

Giegue realized this wasn't a time to punch the Starman for not knocking.

"Well, we can't use a star's heat... we're too far from the yellow dwarf known as the sun... so what do you suggest?"

"Use PSI Fire! It's the only way!"

"Well I'm clean out of PP... what about any of you guys."

"We all learnt PSI freeze... we figured we would never need PSI fire..."

"DAMN IT!" Giegue cursed.

And to make things worse, another bearer of bad news entered the chamber.

"Giegue... our reactor's stopped completely. We are currently being pulled towards Neptune at approximately 250 metres per second. We have entered its atmosphere..."

"DOUBLE DAMN IT! WHY NOW?"

"We don't know how to answer why... we're Starmen, remember?"

"Shut up! When will we impact?"

"In approximately 5 sec..."

And with that, the Mother Ship crashed on Neptune, and all the Omega saucers accompanying the ship descended with it... for guarding purposes.

Now, when you crash on a planet with methane as its primary constituent gas, you don't expect there to be any life on such a planet. Well, you'd be correct, yet Giegue clearly saw something from the Mother ship window.

"Alright, gas masks on... Starmen, out!"

All 30 of Giegue's private entourage teleported outside the Mother ship, and Giegue appeared in front of the thirty aliens with their hands on their hips.

Giegue focused on the object that he saw move. "There's a moving object! Perhaps it's a sentient being... lets see if it knows anything about fusion reactor reignition..."

"Master... what if it is unwilling to help us?"

"Well we MAKE it help us, don't we?"

So the troop approached the object, and when they found it, they realized it was a robot. It had a horn where it forehead would be, and two blue 'eyes'. The 'mouth' seemed like it would open sideways, and its body was fairly humanoid. It had a lump on its horn, and the lump seemed like it could be a third 'eye'.

Giegue touched the robot.

A few minutes passed, and Giegue was frozen with awkwardness. Then, out of the blue, the robot turned to face Giegue swiftly.

"YOU ARE AN UNKNOWN SPECIES."

"What?"

"I WAS MADE BY ECHIDAS FROM A DIMENSION KNOWN AS THE 'SONIC THE HEDGEHOG CONTINUITY'. I AM NOW IN THE DIMENSION KNOWN AS THE 'EARTHBOUND CONTINUITY'. I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS WORLD, ALTHOUGH THIS PLANET BEARS A LOT OF RESEMBLANCE TO THE 'NEPTUNE' OF THE DIMENSION KNOWN AS 'REALITY'."

"Does anyone know what this robot is talking about?"

"I CAN OBSERVE. I CAN OBSERVE AND COPY YOUR BEHAVIOUR. WHAT WAS MY LINE AGAIN? OH, YES. SHOW ME YOUR POWER, OR I SHALL NOT OBEY. I SHALL BECOME THE GIZOID, THE CONQUEROR OF ALL."

"Nope, still don't get it... oh wait, show you my power? Okay... stand back, Starmen."

Giegue proceeded to use his inexplicable attack... inexplicably.

"UNABLE TO LOG DATA. NO APPLICABLE DATA NAME ABLE TO GIVE FILE NAME TO NEW TECHNIQUE."

Giegue was not convinced. "Okay... Starmen, do PSI freeze... Omega."

"Yes, sir!" all thirty replied back.

After several snowstorms, the robot simply stared. It then clicked whirred, and began to point at one of the Starmen.

"SO MANY POTENTIAL LINKS... ONLY RANDOM SELECTION IS FAIR... EENY MEENY MINY MOE, CATCH A TIGER BY THE TOE, IF IT SQUEALS, LET IT GO, EENY MEENY MINY MOE. OKAY. YOU-" the robot said while pointing to Starman #5002, "-ARE MY NEW MASTER. I HAVE A LINK WITH YOU. NOW OBSERVE. PSI FREEZE... OMEGA."

And as if the robot genuinely performed PSI, an ice storm ravaged a portion of land away from both Giegue and the Starmen.

"NOT THAT SHABBY A COPY. NOW I NEED A TASK. WHAT IS YOUR WISH, MASTER?"

Giegue smiled and said, "Fix the fusion reactor on my mother ship!"

"YOU ARE NOT MY MASTER."

Giegue scowled. "#5002... tell it to fix the fusion reactor."

The Starman instantly did as he was told. The robot simply clicked.

"I HAVE NOT ABSORBED THE TECHNIQUE NECESSARY TO BEGIN A FUSION REACTION."

"Well, it was worth a try..." Giegue moaned, "Wait... ask it what the atmosphere composition is on this planet."

Starman #5002 did as he was told... again.

"AT THIS ALTITUDE, APPROXIMATELY 50% CARBON-HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS, 30% HYDROGEN, 10% HYDROGEN-SULFUR COMPOUNDS, AND 10% MIXED NOBLE GASES."

"Wait... Hydrocarbons are present here? Excellent! It's primitive, but we can use these gases to heat the fusion reactor to a suitable temperature, and then we're off to Earth! The hydrogen will also give us more material to fuse too!"

"Okay... do I get to keep the robot?" Starman #5002 asked.

"Sure, why not?" Giegue answered.

And with that, Giegue started the fusion reactor, and the Starman army continued their journey to Earth.

Starman #5002 went to Giegue's private chamber the next day crying.

"What is it, 5002?" Again, Giegue ignored the urge to acknowledge the intrusion of privacy his army seemed to condone.

"...The robot... the robot just disappeared, Master! I even taught it how to juggle! I... I... no!"

Giegue was puzzled more at how emotional the Starman was getting rather than the whereabouts of the robot. "How are you so sad? You're a Starman! Pull yourself together!"

The Starman merely collapsed with grief.

Giegue looked at the pathetic grey alien. He was moved with... pity.

"I... I'm sure he's in some dimension right now, enjoying fun with... blue hedgehogs, and... two-tailed foxes... and... and... lots and lots of other strange anthropomorphic earth animals right now!" Giegue lied, just to make the poor guy feel better. The strange thing is, he was pretty close to the truth...

Author's note: Ha ha! You never realised this was a crossover Fanfic, didja? Huh? Huh?


	54. 053: Pluto

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

053: Pluto

Fassad heard his interpreter for the last time.

She simply said "Fassad is going to plummet."

And, as she predicted, Fassad did plummet. He felt his false eye shatter and his mechanical legs break.

He sank deep into the purple sewer waters tat were contaminated with god knows what... and continued to live. Fassad pondered.

Is it best to die now?

Fassad willed for one last thing... to disappear and leave his memento in his house. He decided to leave a note on the memento...

It said "Sorry you had to find out like this. Even though I've actively fought you, I've now realised all too late that it's only right that life continues beyond the Dragon's awakening... best of luck, this memento will come in handy."

However he wasn't sure if the note would be legible on the tiny razor... a shame.

Fassad's vision blurred, and soon faded to black.

He awoke in a giant, incredibly gloomy courtroom. He had his full body back again, and could speak in words, not notes.

A giant, booming voice came into the room like a wind. It shouted, "You have been charged of being evil, and assisting a plot to end all life. How do you plead?"

Fassad then saw a tall, almost skeletal figure slide into the room. His legs weren't visible due to how much smoke surrounded them, and his head was obscured by a fire seeming brewing from his neck.

"Y-y-y-you're the Devil!" Fassad stuttered.

"NO! The Devil is a fool who sealed himself in a machine, only to meet a grizzly fate at the hands of altogether evil mortal. I am PLUTO, God of the underworld. Anyway, how do you plead?"

"N-n-n-not guilty!"

"They always do... okay, then, Locria, or do you prefer Fassad? Oh, it doesn't matter. You've just forced me to put you through a trial. Any dead person who knew you will testify about you, and any alive person you knew will testify through their dreams... they won't be aware it happened in the morning... but you will. These people will be either prosecution or defending, depending on how... good you were. Now, let's bring the first witness along... Ionia!"

Ionia appeared at the witness stand. "Oh, Locria. I see all the needles got pulled..."

"Not yet..." Fassad blurted out before being shouted down by Pluto.

"DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND YOUR SITUATION? SILENCE!"

Fassad simply shut his mouth tight.

"Now, Ionia, what do you think was a defining aspect of Locria's personality?"

"Well, he's very masculine, loves bananas, and has a creepy 'Nweheheh' kind of laugh..."

"Would you say he was... evil?"

"No. He's good old Locria... you'd never be evil, right?"

Pluto read Ionia's heart. She was oblivious to his crimes against humanity.

"Dismissed, Ionia!" Pluto shouted before making her disappear from the Courtroom.

"Bring up... Salsa!"

Fassad had a good feeling about Ionia... but now that Salsa was on the witness stand, he knew he was stuck doing Sisyphean tasks for eternity.

"Salsa... I know you're a monkey, but what do you think defines this fellow?"

Salsa looked around the courtroom, and then, surprisingly, began to speak.

"I don't know his very well, but I know that all he ever did to me was abuse me, and use me for every iota of service I offered. He never allowed me to have food, he always shocked me for failing AND succeeding at tasks, he never let me have any luxury bananas, and he, most importantly, ruined the settlement with the humans in on the nowhere islands."

"Thank you, kind monkey sir... next witness, Kumatora."

Kumatora appeared. She gazed at Fassad in a way that said 'I knew that I recognized you from somewhere before... but I never thought you'd be a Magypsy'.

"Kumatora... do you remember what Locria was like before you knew him as Fassad?"

"Um... yeah. He was... quite kind, and... he always let me have some luxury bananas... and he also taught me how to play the guitar, and how to overdrive it with PK thunder... and... and..."

Kumatora began to cry, and then blurted out, "But now I know that that guy... the same guy who was like a loving father to me... was the same cretin who tried to kill me, and ruined Tazmily, and who did nothing but hinder us in our quest to save everything... I... I don't know what to say to him..."

Fassad looked upon the poor girl. "I'm sorry, Kuma..."

"I SHALL TELL YOU IF YOU ARE ALLOWED TO SPEAK! IT IS TOO LATE TO APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR HYPOCRISY!" Pluto bellowed, and walked slowly towards Fassad. "I shall force you to try and explain your evil to Kumatora as one of your tasks. Just try to justify yourself. You know that it will be impossible..."

"Can I go, please? I don't wanna be seen crying by everyone..." Kumatora said.

"Yes, dismissed. Now... the final witness... your mouse, Locria."

The mouse appeared where Kumatora was a split second ago.

"So, mouse, what was it about Locria that you liked?"

"Everything... he gave me a house, food, companionship, and he doted over me all the time. He'd say 'You're my most favourite thing in the world.' and pat my head in a gentle way so that he didn't hurt me... he'd always make me banana split ice cream, and cheese with crackers, and all sorts of wonderful dishes... and he did it all for me... the only food I ever saw him eat was luxury bananas straight out... I loved him, and I assure you, he loved me..."

Pluto was silent. In thought. He quietly said, "Dismissed."

The mouse disappeared, as did the structure of the courtroom. The entire view of Fassad went black, except for the image of Pluto's burning head.

"So, you want a good afterlife, huh? That mouse may have been your saviour there... but I'm not sure whether to let you go to... Magypsy heaven. You ave done considerable evil, and I'm sure you're well aware of that... you never know, I might deal with you as an unknown, and just erase your memory and reincarnate you... I'm so unsure..."

Fassad couldn't bear the tension. He felt like he was going to fall apart right there and then.

"Okay. I'm going to put you in Limbo for a few years, while I figure this out. Goodbye for now, and... don't get too bored..."

Then Fassad's only vision, of Pluto's face, faded away, and all was a blank canvas... a deep nothingness. Who knows where he'd end up?

Author's note: Well, where do you reckon Fassad belongs? Review or PM to tell me! Sorry if it's been a while since my last chapter.


	55. 054: Instant

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

054: Instant

Pokey had narrowly escaped death... and the possible repercussions of doing such evil deeds as releasing an all powerful evil into the world. And came out of it with a time machine... not all that bad.

Pokey wrote a letter to Ness... in case he was still alive... and gave it to Picky, before disappearing once again. Pokey decided to freeze time, and travel all over Earth's space... see what this loser planet did in an instant.

In Eagleland, it was 3 in the afternoon. So Pokey managed to see school kids in mid-run as school ended. He saw the frozen face of Jack, the bully who Ness saved him from that day.

For some reason, after staring long enough at it, Pokey lost his hatred for the boy... he seemed somewhat sad and unwilling to leave school. So Pokey went to Jack's home, and found his father holding what seemed like a belt.

So, Jack and Pokey weren't all that different.

And this confused Pokey... why would you unleash all your frustration on someone in the exact situation as yourself?

Yeah, like Pokey could talk.

After what seemed like an hour in frozen time, Pokey decided to travel to the Winters boarding school. There, Tony was in mid-clean of Jeff's glasses, and Jeff was in the school lab, doing some experiment. Pokey felt like ruining the experiment, but when he tried to knock a conical flask filled with a lime-green solution over, it wouldn't budge. It would seem movement is directly related to time... somehow.

Yet Pokey could still move... was this... because he was a time traveller?

Oh well, it doesn't matter... right?

Pokey was becoming... increasingly worried. He saw Scaraba at midnight, and observed the deep darkness Tendas in mid-ritual. He observed Poo and his bald head, and wondered what on Earth girls saw in him.

After a while to think, Pokey figured it was his eyes, and his nice asian build. It was... thin, but not weedy. Pokey hopped inside his Phase Distorter, and decided to restart time, and teleported to a far, far away place.

For some reason, Pokey felt really fatigued after taking in so much information in an instant... is this what ageing feels like?


	56. 055: Ace

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

055: Ace

The friendly ghosts in Osohe castle had just seen a ton of Pigmasks climb up some wall staples to chase after that bum-looking thief guy.

They'd been hiding in the kitchen for some time, but it seemed that the Pigmasks would be gone soon... and so would their repellent known as... science.

One of the ghosts peered his head out the kitchen door. There was no alive people left in the dining room. Good.

So with that, the ghost who was looking said "Who's for blackjack?"

And in response, three ghostly hands rose in the crowd.

"Good, good. Alright, lets go."

So the ghosts were sat around the dining table, with piles of rotten éclairs where chips should be, and they were all looking at the dealer intently.

The first ghost had a soft total of 18, that is, a seven and an ace.

"Hit me."

The dealer did as commanded, and a four popped up. One of the other competitors shouted "Ha! Bust!" before being hushed by another player.

"But he is..."

"You've been dead for how long, and you STILL don't know an ace is one and eleven at the same time..."

The ghost just shut up. The first ghost then got another ace, a two, and a five. From that, he stopped. The dealer then hit himself three times, and went bust with a seven after getting a total of fifteen.

The result was the first ghost gaining 3 rotten éclairs. The second player looked confident despite his blurting earlier. "I'M DOUBLING DOWN!" he shouted.

So the dealer gave him one card, and if gave him a soft total of twenty-three (A six, an ace, and another six.), so he had to go with the hard total of thirteen. To add to his humiliation, the dealer was forcibly stopped at eighteen, and thus gained six rotten éclairs because of the ghost doubling down.

The third ghost simply asked the dealer "Can I use only one card and stick with that?"

The dealer gave him a funny look, and then looked at his pile of éclairs ravenously.

"Sure..." he said in a snide, selfish way.

So the ghost gave the dealer his unwanted card, and then the dealer dealt himself a total of twenty (a five, an ace, and a four).

The third ghost said, "Oh, so close!" as he showed a twenty-one of hearts.

The dealer's face turned red, and he then gave him three rotten éclairs while muttering that you shouldn't reference Looney Tunes while playing blackjack.

The fourth player simply smiled and turned round his cards. "Blackjack."

And it was correct- a Jack of spades and an ace. The dealer sighed, and gave him three rotten éclairs, as he couldn't possibly have blackjack (all four aces had been played).

This continued for a while, and all was fine in Osohe Castle... well, until Lord Passion started making a racket upstairs again...

Author's note: Anyone love ragtime osohe? It's tear-jerking! It's cool!

No... wall staples...


	57. 056: Jack

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

056: Jack

Ninten had just saved the world by singing. As weird as it was, Ninten ad the urge to listen to music ever since that day.

Ana was secretly stalking Ninten one day, and noticed that he was going to a music store in Ellay. She hid behind a bin as she observed him buying a walk-man... as well as a pair of massive headphones.

Ninten walked out of the store, and accidentally hit the bin Ana was hiding behind while trying to open the pointlessly hard-to-open headphone packaging. True enough, he saw the girl, who was smiling awkwardly.

"Say... fancy meeting you here..." Ana stuttered.

"Were you..."

"...stalking you? No, why would I do such a thing?" 

"...of course you weren't. You were going to the music store too, weren't you?"

Ana took her escape route. "...Yeah, I was. So, why'd you buy the walk-man?"

"I'm gonna record me, you, and Loid singing those eight melodies and make a remix using some vinyls I found at home. I also figured it'd be cool to listen to the latest tape records on the go!"

Ana observed the end of the headphones.

"The end of those headphones is a little smaller than the usual ones I see..." 

"Yeah, it's a pair of headphones with the latest 3.5 millimetre auxiliary jack for our modern times. Apparently when portable CD players are made, then they'll use these more often than the big jacks. But the walk-man has a big slot, so you can stick a big jack extension on the mini-jack for older things like this."

"Wow, you sound like an advert, Ninten. Anything that I can afford in there?"

"Well, how much do you have?"

Ana had just landed herself in a terrible situation... she had only brought enough money to bring her back to Snowman by train after finishing her stalking session. Why'd she have to attempt idle conversation?

"Oh... um... I only have enough to get me home... um..."

"Then no, Ana. Sheesh, why go all the way to the music store if you didn't have enough money in the first place? It's like you came here all the way to Ellay just to see me... wait a second..."

But Ana had sprinted off. She had took too many chances that time.

But Ninten just appeared in front of her after teleporting to her location.

"Mind explaining why you were following me?"

Ana looked like a child who had just got scolded.

"I... just wanted to see what you were doing... how you were, if you still... liked me."

Ninten looked at her deep blue eyes. There was no way he could resist that face.

"...Of course I still like you! Jeez! Just don't go following me around like that! It's creepy... it will only make me not like you..."

"Well I never intended on you catching me..."

"You mean you were gonna just watch me? Man, you're weird..."

Ana looked at Ninten again.

"...but I love that about you. Say, you wanna come home with me? We'll pick Loid up on the way, and we can record that song then. Cool?" 

Ana smiled at Ninten. "Cool."

Author's note: There's something cute about female stalkers. Oh yeah, they're creepy, like any other stalker, but I don't know... maybe slight sexism is rearing its ugly head in my personality, and I assume females to be more innocent than males...

...I don't know. Check out my poll, guys! (although I should probably say gals seen as the majority of my tiny fan-base is female)


	58. 057: Queen

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

057: Queen

Maria pleaded with Giegue.

"Please, Giegue... please, just listen to me..."

"I needn't listen! All you shall say is how it is 'wrong' to attack the planet Earth. I shan't listen to you any more!"

Maria was hurt. She had seen this alien grow up since he was a little pup... he'd wag his tail with boundless energy. But now it seemed like all his energy was focused... in some fine-tuned form deep in Giegue's mind.

Maria simply broke down in tears, and walked away from her adoptive son.

Giegue opened his mouth, as if to say something... but couldn't find any words.

Maria was getting old. So much so that, if on Earth, she would be in an old people's home. This saddened her, even though she was an honorary member of the Mother ship's crew while Giegue was about.

She decided to put herself in the stasis pod she had in her private chamber, and soon she fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke up, Giegue was standing in front of her stasis pod.

"Hello... Maria. I... I..."

"...Don't say you're sorry. I know you aren't. You can't be... this... Starman army seems to expect you to be some ruthless general... and I can understand why you have to invade Earth."

Giegue couldn't smile... Maria looked like she'd given up something incredibly immense. Then Giegue realized that she had... she'd given up her entire species.

"Maria..." Giegue choked on his would-be next words.

Maria climbed back in her stasis pod, and Giegue slowly walked out of her room.

Days passed, and Giegue had noticed Maria had gotten... paler.

"Maria... Mother... is there... something wrong? You look weak... tired... are you... dying?"

The fact was Giegue knew she was dying... he just didn't want to know it unless Maria was telling him so.

"Yes, Giegue. I'm ill. I... won't survive."

Giegue wanted to cry. Tears brimmed at his black eyes.

So he decided to make her last hours a good set of hours.

"Starman #3128! Help me create a human bed!"

Maria sighed at Giegue's domineering.

Within three hours, the death bed was created. Giegue then escorted his adoptive mother to her chamber and gently lowered her into the bed.

"Now leave the chamber, 3128."

The Starman couldn't possibly comprehend Giegue's mindset at this time, but still silently did as he was told.

Giegue asked Maria, "What do humans do when their about to lose someone that's close to them?"

"They... they hold their hand... and tell them... everything... everything..."

Giegue knew what she meant, and took Maria by the hand and said, "Everything is going to be alright. I know it... you'll be okay, even when you die. You'll... you'll..."

"...I'll always love you... but... don't... don't... be... don't... no..."

But Maria never could finish what she had to say. She was gone... at least from this world. Giegue would never directly speak with her ever again.


	59. 058: King

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

058: King

Ionia knew the tie was close, but could sense the four heroes' exhaustion.

"You can rest here if you want..."

"Yeah, let's do that." Lucas replied, waving his mystical stick acquired from ages of fighting Heftyheads. Duster, Kumatora and Boney had to agree.

The sleep turned into more of a sleepover. Ionia got out a few sticks, one with a star on and the others with numbers on.

"Who is the king?" They simultaneously said, while Boney slept.

"I am the king!" Kumatora said. "Now, number 2, you have to sit facing away from me, then turn your head to me and say 'I love you'."

Number 2 was... Ionia. Kumatora couldn't help but hide her disappointment. She wanted a flirting session... even Lucas would do, but with Ionia it was just... wrong.

Ionia did as commanded, and Kumatora regressed.

The 'I love you' was executed in an eerie, camp way that only Magypsies say things.

So, they randomized the sticks, and started the game again.

"Who is the king?"

"I am the king!" Ionia chirruped, "So, Number 1, I want you to... kiss number 2 right on the mouth!"

Duster was pleased to see that he was Number 2, but... Number 3 wasn't Kumatora. Not good.

After several awkward stares, Kumatora's incessant laughing and Ionia's constant shouting "The king's rule is absolute!" Duster and Lucas... kissed.

For about a millisecond. They both pulled themselves away from each other and spat several times. Kumatora giggled like the teenage girl she was but never usually acted like, and Ionia said, "It's all in good fun, though..."

The sticks were randomized again, and this time Duster was the king.

"I am the king! Now, mah boi 1, strive for peace like a boi, and Number two can say 'butt-father' to me all the time, and Number 3 can... scrub all the floors in the house."

The three sheepishly accepted the obvious homage to Youtube Poop, and did as told.

By the end of the night, so many attempts at matchmaking between Kumatora and Duster had occurred that Ionia began to get bored.

"I am the king!" Kumatora shouted, "Now, Number one, smile at me and give me a wink!"

Lucas smiled and winked at Kumatora. Ionia could sense Kumatora's frustration.

So eventually, Ionia took Kumatora away for a private chat.

"Look, Kumatora, I know you've been trying to hit it off with Duster for some time now, but please just give it a break... you'll make a fine couple one day, I know you will... I've been reading the previous chapters of this Fanfic. But not now please... just have a good time."

Kumatora somehow forgot that Ionia could read minds, and insisted on retaining her pride.

"I don't fancy Duster! You just want me to! You're a Kumatora-Duster shipper! I knew it!"

Ionia sighed. "Whatever, Kumatora. Just tone down the flirty dares, okay?"

"Fine..."

Author's note: A cookie for the one who identifies what I was referencing with the first round's dare...

However, I shan't give you the cookie myself, you'll just have to buy it yourself and know you deserved it for free... sorry.


	60. 059: Electromagnetism

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

059: Electromagnetism

"I just don't get it! How do you do PK Thunder?" Lucas moaned.

Kumatora sighed, "Like this..." and a lightening bolt fell from the sky.

"But what do you focus on when you do it?" 

"Eh... I dunno. I just... think thunder and... bam! There it is, a thunder bolt. It's that simple."

"Um... so... like this?" Lucas tried PK Thunder... but it didn't work out.

"Oh, come on! It ain't that hard! Maybe you're just not meant to do PK Thunder."

Lucas was desperate... he didn't intend on telling Kumatora why he wanted to know PK Thunder, but it was becoming clear that he needed to spill the beans.

"Look, Kumatora, a guy named Shigeru Miyamoto said that I'd be in some kind of fighting tournament called Super Smash Brothers brawl, and that there's gonna be a lot of excellent fighters in there. For some reason, I'm the preferred 'mascot' for us or something, so I need to learn some offensive PSI right now... apparently PK Love wasn't enough. This is the list he gave me: PK Freeze, PK Fire, PK Thunder, PSI Magnet and PK Starstorm. It says in brackets that PK Starstorm is a 'final smash', whatever that is, so that's kind of important... still why can't I do PK Love for a final smash... anyway TEACH ME PK THUNDER PLEASE!"

Kumatora looked at Lucas as if he was insane... she'd never heard him speak for so long. She smiled and said, "Okay, whatever. I just wish I could join the fight too..."

"Apparently another PSI user will be in the tournament too."

"Ooh... I wonder who that'll be..."

"Some kid in a cap from the looks of his silhouette..."

Author's note: Sorry if it's a little short, but I needed SOME kind of reference to Smash Brothers in this Fanfic. I mean, at least half of the EB fanbase discovered it through the medium of SSB.


	61. 060: Gravity

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

060: Gravity

"Adjusting the Graviton drives. Activate antimatter cannons. Say goodbye, Klangons!"

Jeff couldn't help but find that the science fiction shows he was formerly into were actually liked by him at some point... the science was all wrong, and it wasn't even cool-sounding in the first place.

Life at Doctor Andonuts' wasn't exactly fun. Andonuts hadn't quite adjusted to the fact that his own son was now living with him, instead of staying in school full time.

The whistling speech of the 'Klangons' instantly stopped as Jeff turned the television off. He approached his father, who was fixing the Sky Runner.

"Hi Doctor Andonuts... I mean Dad. What are you up to?"

It was a stupid question.

"I'm fixing the Sky Runner. My, I hope those glasses work okay... I always needed them as a child, but I never was quite as near-sighted as to fail to observe the massive device in front of me." 

Andonuts' jokes were long-winded, cruel, and not that funny at all. In fact, Jeff had walked away mid-insult.

Jeff had invented himself a mobile phone. Surprisingly, I was cheaper to make his own phone than buy one, and he didn't have to pay any bills due to tapping unofficially into Winters' very own 'G-mobile' cell mast.

With it, he called Ness, who, unsurprisingly, simply bought a phone rather than make one.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's Jeff. I'm bored as hell over here. I'd prefer it if I had someone to just hang out with around here..." 

"Why not ask Tony?"

"Tony's been acting weird around me lately. I don't know... anyway please come over! It'll only cost you two PP!"

"Oh, I guess..."

"Oh! And tell Paula to come round too! And Poo... if you have the chance. Come over! We'll have a party!"

"Okay then, see you at..."

"...Seven! See you then! Bye!"

Jeff excitedly hung up before Ness could finish his goodbye. Ness sighed. I guess he wasn't training to get on the Onett Yankees any time soon.

By seven, Jeff observed three charred silhouettes appear in front of his house.

"Hi! Hi! So, where do you wanna go for this party?"

"I was thinking we could get a Mach Pizza on the way to a club of some kind..." Ness proposed.

"A club? Ness, I don't think that's wise, I don't want to get in any trouble..." Paula nagged.

"How about we go to a pub?" Jeff said.

Everyone, Ness, Paula, and even Poo turned around to look at Jeff.

Ness asked the question on everyone's minds, "What on earth is a pub?"

"The word 'pub' is short for 'public house', it's a kind of the Foggyland version of a bar, but... less alcohol based and more rustic looking. Say, you guys don't know what it's like, give it a shot!"

So they went to, as Jeff put it, a 'pub'.

"So, what shall we do?"

"Well, we can't be served alcohol here... we're all minors here, apart from Poo, but I presume you don't want alcohol anyway..." 

Poo said, "Alcohol consumption is an unnecessary method of self-harm. It damages the mind."

Jeff almost ignored Poo and shouted, "Hey, let's play darts!"

So they played darts. Everyone had fun up until the point where it was obvious Poo would just get 180 each time. Jeff was not to be de-funned just yet.

"Let's do karaoke!"

So they all did karaoke. Ness sang 'Gold' by Spandau Ballet, hitting a flat at every time he said 'Soul'. Paula sang a pitch-perfect rendition of 'I had the time of my life' from Dirty Dancing, but was somewhat wooden on stage, and Jeff got booed off stage mid way through singing 'I will survive' by Gloria Gaynor. Poo was too busy hanging out with some Dalaamese tourists who inevitably couldn't get enough of Mr Good-looking-Prince. Plus, Poo was too cool for it anyway.

"Let's do the quiz!"

"Let's play Cribbage!"

"Let's watch Football!"

"Let's play Pool!"

Ness, Paula, and Poo were getting exhausted of activity after activity, but Jeff didn't seem tired at all.

"Let's..."

"Jeff, can we stop now?" Ness interrupted, "We've been having non-stop fun, but I think it's time we got off home now..."

"I have to agree." Poo said, "This has been most enjoyable, but..." Poo paused to shake off a Dalaamese tourist, who ran off shouting "He touched me! He touched me!"

"...but this is our limit. Goodbye, Jeff." Poo then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Ness and I do need to be off now. Sorry, Jeff, but it is three in the morning..."

Jeff looked disappointed. "Oh well, I guess it is late. Okay, see you guys..."

Ness and Paula walked out the pub, and made noises that sounded awfully like teleportation.

Jeff then walked home from the Pub.

"Hi Dad." Jeff muttered on the way into his house.

"Hi, Jeff. So, you have fun?"

"Yeah. I don't know why you didn't go, it's probably been ages since you went to a pub..."

Author's note: I kind of came up with the general story for this on the spot. I don't know how I got from terrible Sci-fi portmanteaus to referencing my Great British culture, but I did!


	62. 061: Strong

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

061: Strong

Captain Strong was enjoying a good old game of Earthbound on his SNES.

"Seriously, this is SO addictive!" he said to himself.

He had got to Fourside. "Say, I've realized something... that kid that I've played as from the start... looks kind of like the kid who beat the Onett Police force in combat... I fact I'm pretty sure I had to fight the police force when playing this..."

Dejá vu was setting in. "In fact... every event... us blocking the roads after the meteorite... all of the stuff to so with the sharks..." 

Captain Strong wasn't speaking to anyone, but continued to think out loud, as if something was forcing him to soliloquise.

"Oh! If I go further on in the game than reality does... will I be able to predict the future?"

Strong was getting paranoid. As if something like this would really happen... a real-life based video game? But there was a lot of coincidences... too many coincidences.

Strong played until he read a sign on Fourside that said "Earthbound 2 planning meeting: APE members only."

Now if the real world was affected by this game, then...

Then Strong could go to the REAL Fourside, peek inside the Earthbound 2 planning meeting, and tell the distant future at the very least.

At the real Fourside, a similar building to the one he saw in game had the same sign next to it. When he stared through the window, and overheard these words:

"So, Pokey's gonna make a return?"

"I reckon it'd be unprofessional to resurrect Giygas... it doesn't make sense."

"Three croquette rolls, please."

"Lucas... and Claus. Yeah, they're good. Yeah, I know they're anagrams of each other! That's the point!"

"Save frogs... yeah, that'll be a nice way to replace calling Dad..."

"New... Pork City? Yeah, that'll do for a city made by the Pig King."

"Locria... I don't know whether he should be a regular Magypsy or a villain..." 

"Villain... but in disguise. Yeah, that'll be good, we'll be able to shock the player when they find out about him."

"Wess should totally dance. I even made a tune!"

Strong was amazed. He knew so much about reality's next 'instalment'.

Now, time to get back to playing 'Earthbound'. After all, Strong needed to know what was happening NOW, the future could wait. In fact he probably won't be a character in 'Earthbound 2' anyway... but could entertain people with fortune telling for now.


	63. 062: Weak

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

062: Weak

Weak? Everyone has their own interpretation of what weak is.

For some, like the violent roach, weakness is a lack of being big and imposing. For others, it was a lack of strength of character. Some would say that there are two types of weakness: Physical and Mental.

For Mole Crickets, though, weakness was not a concept at all.

As a certain Mole Cricket scurried along, he happened to notice a pair of kids hanging out with the Dragos. Mole Crickets didn't care about being outnumbered in all three ways: people, mass, and intelligence. They couldn't care less that a giant Dinosaur-like creature was with the kids. All that mattered was that the orange-haired one was play-fighting the Drago.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Make way for the great Mole Cricket! I can't stand by and watch someone's play fighting! I'll wipe the floor with all of you! Out of my way or you're in a world of pain!"

With those opening words, the Mole Cricket leapt towards the children.

Five seconds later, and the Mole Cricket was close to unconsciousness.

"Oh... uh... not bad, kid. I-I-I'll train you how to fight if you come to the Mole Cricket hole some time... bro." the Mole Cricket concluded, and ran away.

Not that the crushing defeat had affected his ego. However, the next thing the poor bug was to meet was a shoe.

The bearer of the shoe walked away, and all the Mole Cricket could hear of her speech was "I hope it's okay..."

The last thing the Mole Cricket needed was sympathy. That was the last straw.

So, upon returning to the Mole Cricket hole, the bug decided to train. Another Mole Cricket nearby saw the irate insect, and asked, "What's bugging you?"

"Was that meant to be funny? Bug puns aren't funny." the Mole Cricket sharply replied while maintaining his scowl.

"Aw, lost another fight? Ha! Pick on a praying mantis! They're much easier to beat." 

"I. Didn't. Lose. It was a draw. And I was outnumbered. So there."

"Sure. But, trust me, you'll do your self esteem wonders if you train up. You get these things called... exp... or something. You can... level up... kind of. Try it!"

The Mole Cricket finally regressed, and decided to start fights with weaklings.

A Mr Batty popped up. So, the response? The Mole Cricket used a biting attack and hurt the Mr Batty about as much as a drawing pin hurts an elephant.

The Mr Batty sized up the situation and as a result started adopting a weird style of flight. In the end he inflicted more damage to himself than the Mole Cricket did.

Eventually the Mr Batty defeated itself, and the Mole Cricket won.

"What. The hell." the Cricket exhaustedly asked the now onlooking friend Cricket.

"Seriously, I thought that you could've lost that fight. Man, you don't attack like that. Get some weapons at your disposal, equip something, get some armour... or something."

"NO! That's cheating!"

"Well, fine, but your not gonna survive to get much... exp... with no weapons. Whatever, do as you like. I hope you lose your dumb rematch..."

"How did you know that I was..."

"...it was written all over your face. You lost the fight fair and square, and you were wearing a scowl which shouted out 'revenge'. Come on!"

"Shut up. Just go eat a lotus root or something."


	64. 063: Sight

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

063: Sight

Loid hadn't seen anything quite as wonderful. The girl's name was Konata, and apparently had moved over to Merrysville from Japan.

Loid had watched Lucky Star before, and couldn't help but ask her the question.

"So, you a die-hard Haruhi Suzimiya fan, just like Konata from the show?"

Her answer was a punch to the face. "DAMN IT! I thought I could be free from stupid questions like that when I moved away from Japan! But it turns out EVERYONE watches Lucky Star!"

"Actually, only nerds, really. Over here animé isn't typical entertainment. You'll be glad that no-one else knows about Lucky Star here but me. Sorry about that."

Loid was impressed with himself. He'd managed to socially recover from a punch to the face, and speak to an amazingly beautiful girl with next to no nervousness.

Perhaps his social inadequacies were starting to fade.

"Anyway, what's your name? Don't tell me it's something like Kyon or something."

"Nope. Just Loid. Anyway, you don't look like a cartoon character. I was just referencing your name. I'm sorry."

"Whatever. I hope that everyone's as apologetic as you when they do me wrong."

Loid sighed. He had been complimented by the new girl! This was fantastic!

"Okay, see you in class... Konata's the name, but you already knew that, didn't you?" the girl laughed and then walked away.

Now, being early to school never really had that much rewards, but as far as Loid was concerned, this was a fantastic reward. Not only that, but only twenty minutes and it was maths! Everyone in the year had to take maths, and knowing that the girl was a puncher, not a slapper, meant that Konata was more than smart enough to be in the top set, just like Loid.

When Maths started, Loid was there early. Konata, too, was early.

"Hi, again. The Maths teacher said that I had to wait before I enter the classroom so that he could announce my presence and then I would enter... what a pretentious old man, eh?"

"Pretentious... that's Mr Lee for you, but he's certainly a good teacher. I wonder where he'll make you sit?"

Of course Loid was thinking 'NEXT TO ME! OH GOD NEXT TO ME!'. It seemed probable too. I mean, when you're the hard working, not-so-popular nerd free seats seem to materialize around yourself.

Loid's thoughts were interrupted by the local bully, Fred Taylor. Not that his name was anything important. All that mattered was that he was a total nut-job who somehow managed to stay in Maths set 1 despite being totally brain-dead.

"Hey, Loid! Hitting on the new girl? You don't stand a chance!" the Caveman brashly said, before getting Loid in a headlock and coarsely rubbing Loid's scalp with his fist. He soon let go, and decided to introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Fred Taylor. I'm thinking two words. Wanna guess them?"

Konata hated macho men. Her face clearly said that. "I'm stupid?"

"Ha! You're so funny! No, it's 'too damn hot'! It's about you, girl."

Konata smirked. "One; there were three words in that phrase, and two;"

And with that Konata floored Fred Taylor.

Loid stood there in amazement. God, that girl had a good right hook. But it seemed she did it harder on the nonce lying on the floor there... he was out cold.

"What a dunce, there are people just like him everywhere. Ha, when the time comes for all of us to get real jobs, he'll be screwed. No-one wants an employee like that."

Loid paused to consider his response. "Um, I know that what you did was totally right, and I can't say that anything you did was wrong... but..."

"...come on, spit it out. You're stalling in your words, I can sense it. Plus, you said a completely pointless sentence. Come on, what is it?"

"...well, teachers don't exactly take to people knocking other people unconscious kindly."

And, as if on cue, Mr Lee arrived.

"Wow, you two the only ones on time?"

"Well, Fred was too... but... he... he suffered a seizure! He's out cold now!" Loid said in an effort to help Konata.

"Are you sure? You wouldn't have happened to attacked him, Loid?"

Typical. Because males are the only gender capable of flooring someone, eh Mr Lee?

"No, it's true." Konata said. "I saw the whole thing. Fred was giving Loid a nuggie, and then, bam! His grip loosened and he fell to the floor!"

Mr Lee was a typical sexist teacher. There was no way a female student would lie, according to his mind.

"Now, Konata, I know that you'll come in after I introduce you, but, just so you know, when you go to sit down, you'll be sitting behind Loid, that's this boy here, over in the corner. Okay?"

"Fine, sir." Konata said, and winked at Loid.

Was that... flirtation? No, she was probably doing it to say 'Nice one on the alibi'. Yeah, that's what it was. Anyway, regardless, Loid couldn't continue to think about this as the crowd of late students arrived.

Loid sat down, and nodded at Konata through the classroom door window. Konata nodded back, and as everyone else entered, she didn't.

Then Mr Lee said, "Now everyone, there's a new student who's come to this school all the way from Japan. I want you to all make her welcome... introducing... Konata Izumi!"

Izumi? Seriously, her parents must have wanted her to get grief about being named like an Animé character.

But one thing's for sure... Konata wasn't like the character at all... she was... better, smarter, more beautiful, and more importantly, much realer than the fictional Konata.

She was definitely an entirely different girl. And lucky Loid, she'd be sitting behind him all year long... for maths, anyway.

Author's note: I made an OC! Oh yes I did! Okay, she had an unoriginal name, but that was the point! She's a truly different girl to the Lucky Star Konata. So, whaddya think? Is she awesome or is she awesome? Review and tell me please! It's not often that I come up with an OC! By the way, this is set years after the events of EB0, and Loid's a high schooler... just thought you'd like some clarification.

Oh, by the way, as well as an obvious Lucky Star reference, can anyone see the Haruhi reference? It's not mentioned in dialogue, if you're thinking of Loid's dumb question. Oh, damn it I LOVE this chapter!


	65. 064: Sound

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

064: Sound

Ness had carried with him, throughout the whole of his seemingly endless journey, a stone.

This stone had the nerve of taking up one inventory spot all the way too. Buzz Buzz gave it to him, saying it was an... awesome item. But right now, in the lost underworld, it seemed totally useless.

Ness touched the sound stone to his head:

I know that I haven't lived all that long

But I have experienced quite a lot

My cap, my sneakers with... worn out heels

There's moments where I've... ...

Only a couple more notes... only a couple...

One more melody... argh!

Ness couldn't take it any more. "Paula! Please guess the last part of the melody!"

"Wouldn't that..." 

"JUST DO IT!"

Poo observed and thought of his response.

"Ness, there's no need to be hurtful towards Paula... she's done nothing wrong..."

"Thank you, Poo. Ness, please, don't get so worked up..."

"Yeah, well I know that this last melody is gonna be really hard to get. I can just tell. It's at 'Fire Spring' according to the talking rock, and we don't have ANY fire pendants. We're screwed! I don't wanna! I want to ditch this thing ASAP!"

Paula sighed. "Fine, whatever... recently you've been a right jerk, you know that?"

So Paula attempted to zone out and concentrate on the melody.

I know that I ...

"Um, Ness... I only hear four words and then white noise. I think only you're meant to hear it..."

Ness was irate. "Well, this won't do. Poo! You do it."

Poo shook his head. Ness was getting desperate.

"Jeff?"

"Do you honestly think I could pull it off? I'm not psychic in the slightest..." 

"But you managed to understand bubble monkey okay..."

"I'M NOT PSYCHIC."

Ness gave up. "Fine, let's go to Fire Spring. But I expect you to keep quiet and not grovel if we get killed again and again and again up there..."

Paula, Jeff and Poo all understood. Ness was in a foul mood though... maybe it was hormones or something. But then again, everyone hates it when a tune that's particularly important to someone is stopped by white noise.

And what could more important a tune than the key to saving the world?


	66. 065: Smell

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

065: Smell

Boney was bored. And as per usual, the team thought that they didn't need Boney all that much... I mean, how can incredible speed, low attack power, and a plethora of items save them from three PSI-using slabs of clay.

The Barrier Trio were perhaps the hardest obstacle they've ever had to overcome, and Lucas, Kumatora, Duster and Boney had all lost several times to this trio, no matter how much PSI shields were put up... Kumatora kept wasting PP on them while they were in a Barrier formation.

"Woof!" Boney said, which probably meant "Why don't I use my sniff ability?"

Lucas, who was projecting a PSI shield, said, "There's no point... remember when you tried sniffing New Fassad? There was nothing there at all. Sorry, but the sniff ability's about as useful as a Rotten Éclair."

"Woof!" Boney replied, which almost certainly meant "But I can see the weakness..."

"So, we can figure that out for ourselves..." Kumatora said while fruitlessly casting a storm of PK Thunder.

"Grrr..." Boney growled, which must have meant "The weakness changes each time they switch Barrier Formation! It's obvious, this one's weakness is fire! Arrgh!"

Kumatora said, "You sure?"

"Woof." Boney barked affirmatively.

Kumatora proceeded to perform PK Fire Beta, and, as Boney had said, the Barrier Trio took damage.

Lucas smiled, "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when the sniff ability would come in handy. I guess every ability has it's purpose."

Duster's HP was rather low, and rolling down. "Not that I should get involved... but... I'm kind of... about to... collapse..."

And Duster did so.

Kumatora was busy casting offensive PSI forward, and Lucas was replenishing the PSI shield's strength, as well as doing Life-up on every conscious party member.

Boney shoved some Life Noodles down Duster's throat, Duster continued to reduce the defence of the Barrier Trio by tickling them, and Boney fired pencil rockets and sniffed when necessary. When all was said and done, the four heroes had triumphed... over the truly spectacular Barrier trio


	67. 066: Touch

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

066: Touch

Touch is one of our oddest senses. It appears to play next to no role in our everyday lives in terms of survival. In fact, we seem to only use it to get an impression of the world in a different way.

However, if one were to take away your sense of touch, you would find yourself in a bleak world indeed. Touch is more valuable than anyone can ever realise. In fact, the only ones who can truly appreciate the sense of touch are those who have lost their other senses... a blind man knows well that the sense of touch is a wonderful thing.

However, there is one young man who had lost all senses, and came out the other end unharmed.

Poo- he had to go through the traumatic event of actually allowing a somewhat sadistic spirit take each and every one of his useful body parts just to complete his Mu Training.

The letter Mu looks like an upside-down h. Here: μ

Mu training is totally based upon this letter. Mu in measurements is used to mean to prefix 'micro', meaning to divide a given unit by a million. Therefore Mu can be described as small. Similarly, physical training and exercise... the things most people consider the largest part of any form of training... is a small part. The things people would deem as small, play a big role in Mu Training. Mental-conditioning, diet, meditation. Mere thought is rare in most training schedules.

Mu also is the symbol meaning the mean average in statistics. This also applies to Mu Training. Someone undergoing Mu Training does not look significantly bulkier, or paler, or thinner than any other person. In fact, physical 'give-away' signs are absent. Prince Poo was popular with the girls prior to his training, and still is. However, he did not become bulkier, or more or less handsome. He remained as he was and aged as to what is normal for his age.

Mu is the twelfth letter of the greek alphabet, and as such, Mu Training has twelve words that mean something to the undertakers of the training:

Thought, Consideration, Time, Sacrifice, Needs, Influence, Endurance, Food, Honour, Loyalty, Obedience, and Sense.

These all apply to their lives: Mu Trainees think before each of their actions, taking due consideration of the feelings and motives of others. They take time to come to their judgements, sacrifice unnecessary parts of their lives, fulfil only their needs, not their wants, worry only about the things they themselves can influence, endure hardships, do not eat detrimental foodstuffs, keep a to a moral honour code no matter what, are loyal to their sensei and anyone they deem as a 'master', are obedient to any morally upright commander, and value every single sense.

And even though Mu is but a letter, it plays a massive role in a Mu Trainee's life.

Author's note: Got a little sidetracked... this is still about touch, right?


	68. 067: Taste

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

067: Taste

Ninten had bothered to take on this dumb side-quest: To buy a ridiculously expensive dessert for a man who looked like a doctor but clearly wasn't qualified.

But seriously? How much much money for a strawberry flavoured vegetarian meal? It was just stupid. Ninten swore that if he got something useless, he'd kill the guy. He bought another Strawberry Tofu just in case.

The doctor-like man took the Tofu off Ninten and eyed it. He took one bite of it... and cautiously took another. He then smiled, paused, and devoured the lot.

"Oh! That's so great! I love it! Here, take these 'Words of Love'."

What? Words of Love? Oh great, now Ninten could tell a Starman how much he loved that awesome pose... I mean the pose is cool, but Ninten thought this was utterly pointless.

"Ninten..." Teddy said, "...I think the assistant wants some Tofu too. You got any more?"

Fortunately the answer was yes. Ninten handed over some Tofu to the assistant, and he, like his superior, eyed the Tofu like it was a wild animal before eating. He took a whiff of the strange dessert, and then took a bite. He then gagged, spat the Tofu out and screamed.

"MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? ARRGH!"

Ninten looked at the assistant, somewhat shocked by the outburst.

"Take these damn 'Swear Words' while you're here..." the assistant said.

Swear words? Both Ninten and Teddy loved the idea, but Ana hated it.

Ninten and Teddy were gonna have fun swearing and telling enemies that they love them... the items weren't exactly useful, but they sure were fun...

Author's note: Have you done this side-quest? It's cool! I just wish I took on the Reindeer side-quest to find the cure for the cold... colds kill in Mother!


	69. 068: Proprioception

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

068: Proprioception

Bud was working at the factory, with Lou, and happened to be extremely bored with just repeatedly electrifying exhausted Claymen.

"Look, Lou! I can clap my hands while my eyes are closed!"

"So?"

Bud proceeded to clap his hands repeatedly with his eyes closed.

"I don't get why you're doing this..." Lou exhaustedly said.

"Don't you see... you know where you're body is and what position it's in... without the sense of sight!"

"So... everyone can do that... you're not special or anything."

"That's not what I'm on about! We humans have a sixth sense! It's nothing supernatural, it's just... a way to see yourself when your eyes are closed!"

"So, wait, you reckon that in a dark room with no sound, smells, solid objects or food you could still sense yourself?"

"Precisely! Ain't that awesome."

"Meh. Kind of."

"Well I thought it was cool..."

"Well, you're dumb then, aren't you?"

"Hey, I was supposed to say that!" Bud said, hit Lou in the comedic way he did, and both of them bowed down.


	70. 069: Balance

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

069: Balance

Ninten, Loid, and Ana were all reunited once again. It was just a shame that they reunited in such saddening circumstances...

Mount Itoi was a looming, ominous sight.

"Do you think Teddy's gonna die?" Ninten asked.

"Something tells me it'll be a question on everyone's minds..." Loid replied.

"Everyone's? Only us three know about this." Ana asked, seemingly blissfully unaware of the thousands of Mother fans still debating Teddy's fate.

"Eh, never mind." Loid said as if not debating about someone's life, "I kind of wish I kept the tank..."

"Why? There's only Oh-mooks around Lake Itoi..."

"But... look, Omega Borgs..." Loid said.

"Quick, get the flame-throwers out!" Ninten shouted to Loid.

"No, I don't want to waste 'em..."

"We're right at the end of the game!"

"Then lets just 4th D-slip!"

"No, that wastes PP!"

"Well, this wastes items!"

"DAMN IT GUYS I'LL JUST USE PK FREEZE!" Ana shouted after enduring the pathetic argument.

The Omega Borg was quickly dispatched, and now that danger had passed, Ninten and Loid continued to argue.

"Well, killing the enemies gets us experience!"

"For what? The oh-so-difficult final boss? You just sing at him!"

"Yeah, but you need to be able to survive the thing! Plus, you won't be needing the flame-throwers against the final boss, so you may as well..."

"I want to torch the bullies at my school when I get back, alright?"

After an awkward silence after Loid's confessed pyromania, Ninten said, "Fine, I'll 4th D-slip..."

Ninten found that when dealing with an irate nerd the best thing to do is agree with them.

So after several 4th D-slips, Ninten, Loid, and Ana had all made it to the top. But then, as if by magic, a Giga Borg appeared.

"Damn it, so close too! Okay, Ninten, 4th D-slip!" Loid commanded as if he was the main character.

"I HAVE NO PP THANKS TO YOUR COWARDLY WAYS!" Ninten shouted.

"Well, I can't waste PP on killing it, I need to save it for healing in the final boss..." Ana squeaked.

"Well, I'm saving my flame throwers for..."

"SCREW YOUR REVENGE PLANS! THE ENEMY IS SHOOTING PK BEAM GAMMA AT US!" Ninten screamed. But when the stress level had reached its peak, Ninten remembered he was wearing a Franklin Badge. Oh.

The beam reflected and the hapless minion got defeated by its own attack.

Ana looked pleased with herself.

"What's with you?" a somewhat indignant Loid said.

"You boys are so uncooperative... you'd never last a second if it wasn't for me... I'm like a fuse stopper..."

Loid then turned to Ana and replied, "Yeah? Well none of this would have happened if someone had BALANCED THIS GAME PROPERLY AT THIS POINT!"

Ninten and Ana felt like slapping Loid for breaking the fourth wall for the third time, but had to agree that if an almighty being was controlling them at this point in time, they would be feeling pretty frustrated by now.

Author's note: Don't you find you stockpile Loid's items and don't ever get round to using them before Giegue? And Mount Itoi is EVIL! Even more so than Podunk Graveyard. Anyway welcome back! I'm sorry I've neglected this Fanfic recently... but I had an idea for a Haruhi Suzumiya fic that I knew would disappear if I waited until I finished this one... I apologize... oh yeah, no 69 jokes here, heh heh.


	71. 070: Treason

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

070:Treason

_Somewhere in New Pork City..._

"Sheep? SHEEP IS YOUR NAME?" Porky screamed at the Pigmask captain.

"Well, yeah. I won't tell you any more... trying to sound mysterious is my hobby." the Pigmask captain said as if he wasn't in massive trouble. I mean, Porky himself was punishing him... what would he do?

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STINKING HOBBIES! Now, who did you see before the generator blew up?"

"A... blonde-haired kid, a pink-haired girl in a hooded dress, a bum-looking guy and a dog."

"ARRRRRGH! THEY WERE THOSE GUYS! DIDN'T YOU READ THE BULLETIN? *cough* *cough* *wheeze* *wheeze*"

"Um... what bulletin?"

"The bulletin saying to look out for a blonde kid who looks like the commander, a pink-haired girl with short hair that practices PSI, a bum-looking guy with a limp, and a brown dog. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THAT WAS GIVEN OUT?"

"I... I was playing solitaire on my computer, sir."

"YOU WERE..." Porky was about to yell some more, but his lungs caused him to stop mid-way. Perhaps it was best to calm down. "You ignored a very important bulletin... for SOLITAIRE? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR... *cough* *gasp* *wheeze*... ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? THUNDER TOWER HAD TO BE DESTROYED BECAUSE OF YOUR INSOLENCE!"

"Well... well..." The Pigmask captain looked at the frail man in the mech. He honestly didn't expect that his leader would be this... evil villain-ish. "...I'm so sorry, sir! I'll never do it again, honest I won't! I'll polish your... mech's legs! I'll do anything!"

"Well, you've caused a lot of issues by just letting them destroy the generator like that... Mr Fassad is severely injured because of you... we have no way of controlling the masses in Tazmily now that there's no incentive to get a happy box... you have helped ruin my big plan..."

The Pigmask captain was beginning to feel both guilty and uneasy... but not because he had failed the Pigmask army, but because he now knew what an evil organization he was part of.

"And what _is _your big plan?" he boldly asked.

"You... shall... never... know... in fact, I think I know just the punishment for you..." Porky then pressed a massive button with his mech's pincer. A lift proceeded to appear in the room. "Get in the lift."

"And what if I say no?" Sheep asked.

"Trust me, I won't kill you if you enter this elevator. I will do if you stay."

The Pigmask appreciated that although he was clearly a psychopath, his leader was not about to send him to his death... unless he disobeyed. But still, what was he going to do?

"Fine... so, am I going to prison or something?"

"No, you'll be... just... fine..."

When Porky said those words, the words seemed to ooze from his ravaged throat.

"...Well? Are you going in?"

"No."

"NO?" Porky screamed, and then slashed the Pigmask's face. "JUST GET IN!"

Scrambling to his feet, the Pigmask quickly decided that it was best to get in the lift. It quickly dropped from the supposed 100th floor of the Empire Porky and dropped to the 30th floor. There the Pigmask saw a screen with a picture of Fassad on. The image moved, and Fassad's voice played through the speakers.

"Hello, rebellious Pigmask. You have been sent to the mental reconditioning unit. Now, if you are part of a group of more than one, then I'll have to use Hypnosis Omega... so... oh, I'll just use Omega anyway. Hope this works when it's pre-recorded... so, yeah, just look at me, and..."

Then a voice of Porky cut in and shouted, "Just do it!"

"...I'm doing it, I'm doing it... okay, Hypnosis Omega!" and then Fassad gestured towards Sheep. Sheep then felt the most strange sensation... as if he had gone to sleep.

He heard a gentler version of Fassad's voice speak to him, saying, "Now, I need to tell you this... you will become part of the Pigmask army, a benign organization. You will okay King P, new leader of the entire world. You will obey the army unquestioningly, and accept King P in all his... are you serious? Um... yeah, accept King P in all his... awesomeness. Okay, now, with these thoughts you will wake up a new person. Three... two... one... and wake up!"

Sheep awoke, and suddenly liked Porky a awful lot. "So, you like King P now? Good. Not that I'd doubt my hypnosis ability... anyway, you should go... go on, get in the exit lift to ground floor. Have a good Pigmask career... I guess." Fassad concluded, and then the screen turned off.

Author's note: Hello. Sorry. This fiction needs some love, and it isn't getting any at the moment... sorry.


	72. 071: Patriotism

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

071: Patriotism

Ionia was summoned to Locria's house. Now, it was rare that Locria would ever summon anyone to his house... ever. So she had to come along.

After appearing in the pink shell filled with banana crates, she instantaneously noticed a white flag with a red cross on it.

"Welcome, Ionia. I figured that I should celebrate an interesting foreign culture's day!"

"And what's that?" Ionia asked.

"Well, it's..." Locria started, but got interrupted by Aeolia and Doria appearing. Aeolia happened to appear on a chair.

"...Hello, guys. It's Saint George's day!" Locria finished.

"Saint... who's day?" Aeolia asked.

"Saint George's! I found this flag fluttering around... seems pretty old. It smells of... small and powerful island." Locria said.

Doria was confused. Why was Locria so... chipper, and enthusiastic? Phrygia proceeded to appear on Locria's bed, and was shortly followed by Mixolydia and Lydia.

"Hello, you three! It's Saint George's day! Time to party!"

"But... what is Saint George's day?"

"It's a day that would be celebrated on a small island called Britain. It was incredibly powerful a long time ago, even for its size, and had an empire. One of the countries in Britain was called England, and their Patron Saint was Saint George. It has it's own day, and today's that day! Now, to celebrate with traditional British food!"

"How do you know all this?" Mixolydia asked.

"Well, I decided to research about it, ever since I found this scrap of flag, and, well, here we are! I love the idea of British culture... now, time for traditional food... PIE!"

"Pie? I don't want to gain weight..." Lydia mused.

Locria wasn't liking how everyone was seemingly _trying _to put a downer on everything he was doing.

"One pie won't hurt..." Locria said, trying his best not to add an irritated edge to his voice.

"Well, okay. So, where are these pies?"

"My mouse will be taking them out the oven shortly. Oh, wait, he's called just now... I'll grab them."

Locria entered the kitchen area of his house, and the other Magypsies proceeded to whisper to each other.

"Why is he so excited about some foreign festival?" Phrygia asked.

"Why did he call us over in the first place?" Aeolia asked.

"Shut up, guys!" Ionia concluded, "I think Locria just wanted to call the shots and have some fun, that's all. It can't be fun living down here in the dark all the time..."

Locria returned with a baking tray full of Pork Pies.

"Try them! My mouse made them, so if you want to compliment the chef, just leave a note by the mouse hole there... he's shy around others."

The mouse entered the main room gingerly to introduce himself in thoughts, and then climbed onto Locria's hand. There it uttered a few squeaks before leaving them in peace.

"Mmmm! These are delicious! If you can still hear me, mouse, these are FANTASTIC!" Mixolydia shouted while spitting crumbs and pork at Locria.

Locria was beginning to lose patience with his guests. He'd told them his mouse was shy... why couldn't they listen to him?

"Now, time to do a typical British-style Pub Quiz!" Locria declared as if he wasn't incensed by his guests' poor behaviour.

The Magypsies had just devoured all of Locria's pork pies, and felt ready to do a pub quiz.

"Alright, teams of two, and be sure to name yourself something interesting!"

So Lydia and Doria teamed up, and named themselves the Ice Queens. Ionia and Mixolydia named themselves the Summit Smashers, and Phrygia and Aeolia named themselves the Stationary Scorchers.

"Okay, first question; What legendary creature did Saint George supposedly slay?"

"Wait, wait... can you repeat that? I wasn't listening at all..." Phrygia said. Locria turned from the group, scowled, and then turned back to repeat the question.

After the Pub Quiz, and several Banana Bread beers to keep himself sane, finally Mixolydia said, "Don't know why we have to celebrate some dead guy from Britain's birthday...". She didn't have the decency of doing it behind Locria's back either.

Locria snapped. "GET OUT! Just get out! You've done nothing but complain! You have no etiquette, no manners... and NO CAJÓNES! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! I just wanted to have some fun with you guys, BUT NO! YOU WON'T LET ME! GO! GET OUT! GET OUT NOW! Go have a tea party with Aeolia or something, because I'm clearly not into what you like... in fact, I don't resonate with any of you guys! JUST GO! GO!"

A silence dominated the room. Mixolydia simply said "I bet it isn't even Saint George's day..." and disappeared. Everyone else soon followed, except for Ionia.

Ionia looked at the contorted face of Locria, and then quietly said, "I'm sorry they behaved like that. They had no right..."

Locria's face lost its anger, and soon turned despondent. "Ionia... you can't possibly say sorry on their behalf... you may be sorry, but they aren't... they hate me, you know? I just wanted to organize a fun party that didn't consist of us drinking tea and being effeminate weirdos... is that too much to ask?"

"No, it isn't." Ionia finished, and then disappeared also.

Locria stayed silent for about a second, and then broke down and cried. "Why? Why do they hate me? Why?"

The mouse watched his depressed master, and then approached the Magypsy. It squeaked once at Locria, and Locria sniffed, and said, "You're the best. If it wasn't for you, I would have gone insane by now."

The mouse couldn't help but agree. Locria was slowly becoming less interested in spending time with his fellow Magypsies, and the mouse was the only thing stopping him from completely detaching from that life.

Author's note: Yep, here it is... a chapter explaining Locria's bitterness... Ionia seemed a suitable character to be the 'redeemer' of the other six Magypsies.


	73. 072: Courtesy

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

072: Courtesy

Lucas and company were confused as to what to do in New Pork City, but apparently, the cinema was the place to be. There wasn't really much useful on sale in New Pork City, apart from the arms dealing Pigmask, and the weapon vending machine... but Lucas was clean out of cash apart from 3000 DP, which was being saved for a New Year's Eve bomb... apparently there was a use for a mostly dysfunctional bomb that the higher being known as the player needed desperately.

Kumatora was checking out the selection of goods at the cinema.

"Kumatora, we can't afford anything." Lucas said bluntly.

"I'm just window shopping, jeez! I'm allowed to be a girl every now and then, aren't I?"

Duster couldn't help but find that laughable. "You? A girl?" Duster asked while grinning.

"Yeah, me, a girl. Or didn't ya notice before?" Kumatora sarcastically retorted.

"Well, whatever. I'm going into screen 1... something smells in there..." Lucas said, with Duster and Boney following him.

Duster was looking at two random girls, one with pink hair in pigtails, and the other with long blue hair. They were talking about how stinky something was... probably the seats, but for some reason he felt like whenever you'd start listening to a half-done conversation with those particular girls, they'd be talking about stink...

Kumatora, who was still checking out the goods, said, "Look, I don't have any money, but can you let me try out that fake frying pan?"

The clerk looked at her in a funny way. "It's strange... you scream out the 'heroine' vibe, but you're not at all fitting to be a frying pan user..."

"What ya saying?" Kumatora asked, irritation sharpening her words.

"N-n-nothing... just you don't seem like a girly girl, yet you clearly are a heroine of some sort... sure you can try out the frying pan!"

So Kumatora grabbed a Fake Frying pan, and felt a surge of nostalgia rush through her.

"Oh, I feel... I feel... like growing my hair long... and... dying it blonde... and wearing a dress... ooh, I feel all..." Kumatora struggled to express her feelings in words.

"Um... are you okay, Miss?" the vendor asked Kumatora.

"...I'm just dandy, thanks, I'm just going to join my friends... I'll return this, don't worry." the now effeminate Kumatora sang.

Lucas was sniffing chairs in the movie theatre, Duster was screaming at the two girls "Is there anything you talk about but STINKY?", and Boney was sniffing, and emitting the occasional growl.

"Well, hello Duster." Kumatora cheerfully said, and then asked, "Who are these wonderful people?"

The pink-haired girl said, "I'm Kagami Hiiragi. Your... friend... here, won't leave us alone. Insists he recognizes us... that our constant 'stinky' conversations are familiar in some way..." 

"Yeah," the blue-haired one continued, "He's one strange fella. Kind of bum-looking if you ask me. Oh, by the way, I'm Konata Izumi."

"Well, I'm Kumatora, it's great to meet you... Duster, I'm sure it's just a coincidence... wow, pink hair is usually only a mark of a Magypsy... but you're too pretty to be a Magypsy, and... blue hair? I haven't ever seen that before..."

"Ha, you're just like someone we know." Konata said, "She acts just like Miyuki-san, isn't that right, Kagamin?"

"Yep, sure does. Doesn't look like her though..."

Duster was confused by how Kumatora was acting. "She doesn't usually act like this... she usually is more like... you... blue-haired one."

"Izumi." Konata corrected.

"Yeah, whatever... yeah, she's usually more tomboyish."

"It's true. However, holding this frying pan makes me want to be a girl... I want to be all girly... it's quite confusing, actually..."

"Hmm... that is weird..."

Their conversation was forcibly ended by Lucas screaming, "GAAAAAAH! THAT STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN!"

A bug then leapt out from the chair that Lucas just sniffed. Boney took to curiosity the instant it appeared, and chased it. The bug then leapt into one of the speakers surrounding the screen, and Boney proceeded to dig his way into the speaker also.

"Wow, that bug sure was stinky!" Kagami remarked.

"Can stinky be Moe?" Konata responded.

Duster put his hands on his head and screamed, "ARRRRRGH! Where do I know these girls from?"

Kumatora simply said, "Calm yourself, Duster. I'm sure that it's all in your head, whatever it is..."

Duster was beginning to miss the real Kumatora, "Listen, you're real considerate and kind when you have that frying pan on you... but can you please put it down... I just want you to insult me like you would if this situation occurred normally..."

"Oh? I quite like this new me... although, I can't afford to keep this pan... what a shame..."

Duster thought that it wasn't a shame at all...

Author's note: Okay, the random crossover wasn't all that necessary, but I figured with the stinky cinema business it was only fair that I referenced the queens of stinky, the Lucky Star cast!


	74. 073: Cold

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

073: Cold

"PK Freeze!" Kumatora yelled as she cast the glacial spell on a black beanling. It caused the poor enemy to faint instantly.

"What the hell, Kumatora? I wanted to siren beetle that thing... it's a rare enemy, you know!" Duster complained.

"Sorry... couldn't help it. I can't help but pummel everything I come across..." Kumatora replied with a smug grin.

"How come PK Freeze is so powerful? I mean, it's just a cold wind that surrounds the enemy..."

"Because... because... I don't know..."

"Maybe it's because their metabolic rates go down or something..." Duster suggested.

"Yeah, but cold only reduces metabolic rate... fire denatures completely the enzymes necessary to metabolise stuff!" Kumatora corrected.

"Yeah, why is fire weaker than freeze?" Lucas wondered out loud.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Woof!" Boney said, which meant, "I have an amazing theory that you should all hear." Boney then continued in barks, and tried to convey the point, "Look, what would be the point in a single-target move like PK Freeze if there was a more powerful attack that hit every enemy? There'd be no point in PK Freeze... so it must be balancing issues that make PK Freeze so powerful."

Lucas rubbed his chin, "Hmmm... got all of that but the last part about 'balancing issues'."

Boney growled, which meant, "Don't play dumb with me, you're just as aware as I am that this is a game." 

"Okay, okay, I admit it. But yeah, it's probably true."

"I mean, I've heard there are some games where Ice is not powerful at all..." Kumatora said, "Something about an idiot Ice Fairy or something..."

"Yep, I bet that is the case. I mean, realistically speaking, ice isn't all that bad..." Duster added.

"Oh, really, is that the case, Duster? So you won't mind if I PK freeze you right here, right now?"

"Okay, I take that back..." Duster quickly replied, wincing at the thought.

Author's note: Sorry if this seems a little rushed, you know how it is. Oh, guess what this load of themes are based on (72 to 80). 72 is obviously Courtesy, 73 is Cold, and 73-80 are:

74: Return

75: Surprise

76: Escape

77: Fall

78: Reunion

79: Itch

80: Part

So, any ideas? Lets just say, it's a recent thing that I've based this lot on... Wahahahahaha!


	75. 074: Return

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

074: Return

Ness, Paul, Jeff, and Poo all waved goodbye to their now-sleeping fleshly bodies... and looked at their metal hands with their camera-like eyes.

Jeff started up the the Phase Distorter... rumbles and whirring muffled any possible attempt at a conversation the four tried. When the machine finally stopped, Ness looked upon the bleak, white cave they were now in. Ness attempted to speak... his audio sensors indicated that his voice was rather like when one has a cold.

"Do you think we'll ever come back?"

"What do you mean?" Jeff asked back.

"Well, of course we're going to defeat Giygas, but will we die in the encounter also?"

"Focusing on whether or not we'll die is not a good way to stay focused..." Poo mused, and folded his robotic arms. "We should do our best to fulfil the prophecy that the Apple of Enlightenment predicted, and do so without fear. If fear consumes us, then Giygas will win."

"I wonder what happened to Pokey..." Ness thought out loud, with a hint of worry in his voice.

"I hope he's okay..." Paula said, "Even though he helped kidnap me for Carpainter, I don't have anything to hate him for..."

"I don't know about that... he seemed like one nasty piece of work when I saw him..." Jeff replied.

"He is... but he's just a kid, Jeff." Ness said in a tone resembling denial, "I don't think he could possibly be genuinely evil... he can't be..."

"I'd love to debate on whether Giygas' sidekick is genuinely evil or not, but THERE'S A GHOST OF STARMAN RIGHT THERE!" Jeff shouted.

True to his word, a Ghost of Starman was standing there, hands on hips, looking intimidating. It instantly hailed a wall of stars from the grey sky, and everyone in Ness' party felt the burn.

To dispel the overpowered minion, Ness, Paula and Poo all used their most powerful PSI. The apparition disappeared, and left behind a Godess Ribbon.

After a long, difficult, and overly challenging walk through the maze that was the cave of the past, they entered a cave which would truly test whether robots can have souls or not...


	76. 075: Surprise

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

075: Surprise

_Somewhere in the Empire Porky Building..._

"Okay, I guess that this is my day over... I'm going home, Porky." Fassad said in a half relieved, half complaining tone.

"HOLD IT!" Porky shouted, and then paused to cough and splutter, and then said, "I... have a surprise for you... Fassad." 

Fassad attempted to read Porky's mind in an attempt to get an idea of the surprise, but Porky was wearing a PSI counter, so Fassad ended up reading his own mind.

"What is this surprise?"

"Well, it's a surprise! Okay, I'll blindfold you and then you'll follow me..."

"Okay..." Fassad said, genuinely confused.

"Good." Porky concluded, and tied a cloth around Fassad's eyes.

Fassad walked where he thought Porky's side was, and occasionally was corrected by a periodic "Over here, idiot!"

"Okay, get in the elevator." Porky bluntly said, before dragging Fassad in anyway.

Fassad was worried... what kind of sick surprise was waiting for him up there? Fassad felt the ground stop moving. Porky's voice said, "Stop, take in your surroundings, and remove your blindfold."

Fassad did as instructed. The elevator door opened, and a sandy floor slid into view. There was the occasional spot of grass, and crates everywhere.

"Wait... these are my crates..." Fassad figured out as a waft of bananas caught his nose.

"You are correct." Porky replied.

"And..." Fassad ran into the next room on the floor, and saw none other than a pink shell.

"Surprise. I moved your home into a more... enjoyable scenario for you. It took a lot of Pigmasks to move all your boxes of bananas. You should also notice that you now have a reliable source of water going into your house... also, I found out some interesting things about you... like you have a mouse, and some funky-looking musical horns..."

"...so you raided my stuff?"

"And put them all here... I heard you liked the desert, so here you are... all the desert you could want, ten times less dangerous! What do you say? Like the surprise?"

Fassad was surprised by the surprise, that's for sure. And it was a good one too. Perhaps Porky was capable of kindness after all...

"Thank you, Porky." Fassad said, unable to really say anything else.

"You're most certainly welcome... this way I can keep an especially beady eye on you..." 

Fassad scowled. He knew there must have been some sort of ulterior motive.

"Heh, and I thought you were being kind to me..." Fassad said with a grin on his face, and entered the freshly-moved pink shell.

Author's note: This always intrigued me... hows Locria's home came to be in the Empire Porky Building. Well, here's my sort-of answer.


	77. 076: Escape

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

076: Escape

Ness and Paula were stuck. Truly stuck. In a dismal, dank, underground prison. Seriously, why did they walk right into a pretty obvious trap set by some woman they didn't even know?

"Ness, why did you follow that woman... you don't have thing for her like that guy did..."

"But I thought that she could have helped... the guy implied that she had hung out with the zombies, so I thought I could, you know, appeal to her better nature and get some information from her." 

"That was pretty dumb." Paula replied.

"Well, I didn't see you try to stop me!"

"Well, that's because I can't stop you. You'd march on anyway..."

"Whatever, you got any plan?"

"Yeah, I do, as a matter of fact. You know how I sent you telepathic messages?" 

"Yeah." 

"I'm going to signal to another person who'll join us... his name's Jeff."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. How far away is he?" 

"He lives in Foggyland."

"WHAT? Oh well, it's our best shot."

"Unless you want to signal for someone in Dalaam..."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Just do it." Ness said, getting into a man-mood.

So Paula concentrated, and eventually a message got to Jeff... she hoped.

"So, what do you want to do while we wait?" Ness asked.

"I don't know... you want to play a game?" Paula suggested.

"Oh yeah, let's play 'I spy'... I spy with my little eye, something beginning with R." Ness sarcastically retorted.

"Shut up, Ness. How about Tic-Tac-Toe?"

"Fine, whatever."

So Ness and Paula took it in turns scraping crosses and circles into the ground with a chalky type of rock. Eventually, however, it lost its fun.

"An interesting game. It seems the only winning move is... not to play. How about a nice game of... chess?" Ness wearily droned as they got another draw.

"There's no... chess board... or pieces." Paula droned in response.

"I was... referencing 'War Games'." Ness groaned.

"What's... that?" Paula asked.

"Oh... never mind... let's play mental Ping Pong." Ness suggested.

"How does that work... I mean, I know we're both telepathic, but in our own minds we'll always hit the ball."

"I... guess." Ness paused as an awkward silence filled the dull cell.

"ARGH! I'm so bored I could die!" Ness complained.

"Well, I'm so bored that... no, I can't top that. I'm... too bored to think of a decent comeback."

"I just wish a space craft would smash through the ceiling and contain some friendly aliens that could save us..." Ness said, not sincerely believing it.

With that, a UFO-looking object crashed through the rock-based ceiling, filling Ness' and Paula's eyes with rubble.

"I can't... see... Paula, is this help?"

"I... don't know... I can't open my eyes..."

A mysterious voice said, "Aw, crap! The sky runner's ruined! Damn it, I shouldn't have landed the thing like a..."

"Are you Jeff?" the blind Paula said.

"No, I'm an alien. OF COURSE I'M JEFF! You called me, right?"


	78. 077: Fall

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

077: Fall

"H3r3 g03S n0 S0m37H1ng." the Mr Saturn said, and somehow got the birds captured within his cage to start flying.

Duster struck the bottom of the now-levitating cage with Rope Snake, and Rope Snake grabbed on with his mouth.

"Nngh nn!" Rope Snake mumbled as to say, "It's secure!"

The other three heroes grabbed onto Duster's leg, and the birds carried them upwards. The rope snake felt as proud as a dung beetle who'd found an elephant's toilet... he had everything he could've possibly lost reimbursed by the pride he was feeling... he wasn't a useless worm after all...

...Or so he thought.

The birds were beginning to yield to the weight of the three humans and dog that were holding on to the cage. And rope snake was feeling his jaw ache... this was going to fail miserably again...

"NNGH!" Rope Snake muttered, followed by a "Fffg!", "Mmph!" and a final "Nnnkk..." before the cage descended so dramatically that it shook the Rope Snake's mouth off the bottom of the cage.

The five people were now falling at an alarming rate.

"Well, well done, again." Kumatora grumbled.

"Sorry... I honestly thought I'd make it this time..." Rope Snake said apologetically.

"Well, it's too late for that, we're all going to die." Kumatora replied.

"Hey, let's not blame the Rope Snake entirely..." Duster said, "Remember that he had to carry all of our weight on his mouth alone..."

"You saying we should've shed the pounds beforehand?" Kumatora complained.

"Woof!" Boney barked, which meant, "Stop arguing! Look, there's water below us. We're going to be alright."

"Boney's right. Arguing won't solve any problems. Look, we should just focus on the next needle now that we know we're gonna survive this fall." Lucas added.

"Screw you." Kumatora concluded, before she landed in the salty water below her. Rope Snake landed in the water last.

"Aah! I can't swim! I can't swim!" Rope Snake yelled. Lucas, Duster, and Boney had all made it to the shore by now, but Kumatora was slowed down by her particularly cumbersome hooded dress.

"Help! Help! Can anyone hear me?" Rope Snake shouted. But only Kumatora could.

"PLEASE! Kumatora, help me out!"

Kumatora knew that she should help him out, but couldn't help but feel a tinge of selfishness was particularly appealing at this time. But... at the same time, she couldn't help herself.

"Coming!" she replied with equally huge volume. She took the Rope Snake by the tail, and started a one-armed front crawl back to the shore. Half way through, however, she ran out of energy.

"I... can't... swim... much... oh... talking's... making... it... worse..." Kumatora then held the arm holding Rope Snake above water while she sank.

Lucas and Duster had assumed that Kumatora would take a while, but still make it back... so when they heard the sound of Rope Snake in distress, they instantly were confused.

"Duster! Duster! Help! Kumatora tried to save me... and... well... SAVE US!"

Duster instantly sprung into action, as if he was a super hero instead of just a bum-looking guy with a leg handicap. He swam up to Kumatora and the Rope Snake, and tied the Rope Snake's tail to Kumatora's arm.

"Now, Rope Snake, I want you to hang on to my leg as tight as you can!" Duster commanded.

"Roger that!" Rope Snake replied, and bit down on Duster's good leg.

"OW! No, the other leg... you know, the numb one..." Duster corrected.

"Sorry." Rope Snake said, and proceeded to grip the correct leg.

Duster swam back to the shore, and an unconscious Kumatora was placed on the beach.

"Do you reckon she's alright?" Lucas asked.

"Thanks for helping, by the way." Duster sarcastically commented.

"Oh, well... uh... shut up." Lucas rambled in lieu of a real reply.

Rope Snake was looking at Kumatora intently... like he had a bad feeling about her.

"Um, have you checked if she's breathing?" Rope Snake asked Duster.

"No, I just assumed that she'd be..." while placing his hand over her mouth, "...oh God, she isn't breathing... and judging by the way her chest's moving... she's got water in the lungs..."

"Water in the lungs?" Lucas asked... "I don't think PSI can cure that."

Duster turned to Lucas with anger written on his face.

"Just great, Lucas! Just..." Duster stopped, and anger left his face, and got replaced by despondency, "...oh, Kumatora! WHY? WHY?"

Rope Snake observed the once heroic man now down on his knees grieving. He was truly heartbroken. He had to do something...

So, Rope Snake slid over to the unconscious Kumatora, wrapped his body around her lungs, and, like the snake he was, constricted. Kumatora coughed, spluttered, and after a few seconds, water flew out of her mouth. Duster was too busy crying to notice.

After regaining consciousness, Kumatora sat up, and observed a smiling Rope Snake, and a crying Duster, and a Lucas that was feverishly trying to get the attention of Duster.

"DUSTER! KUMATORA'S ALIVE! SHE'S THERE!" Lucas said.

"I know, I wish she was, too, but, she's gone now, isn't she?" Duster moaned desperately.

"Yup, and she was such a pretty, wonderful, and unique girl, wasn't she?" Kumatora added.

"Yeah, no-one can ever replace her... wait, Kumatora?" Duster turned to look at the very much alive Kumatora.

"Uh-huh, alive and kicking." Kumatora said, and stood up to that effect. "I think... I think that someone saved my life... and it was all because I tried to save that Rope Snake..."

Lucas, who had saw the whole thing while Duster had a crying fit, said, "Actually, it was the Rope Snake who saved you..."

"What? Did you do that?" Kumatora asked the slightly forlorn-looking serpent.

"Kinda..." he said, "I wish I was a Boa... I would've done my job perfectly if that was the case..."

Author's note: Okay, I know that was a little dramatic, but hey, I needed some kind of redemption for poor Rope Snake!


	79. 078: Reunion

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

078: Reunion

The department store was pitch black, and, to make things worse, Paula was gone.

"Customer Ness... oh, customer Ness... please hurry to Paula... "

Ness swore he was going to smash this disembodied voice with his bat. Every time the voice spoke, he felt the urge to stop moving, which irritated him further.

"Gwaaaarrrgh! Ness, Customer Ness... gwargh! Gwargh!"

"Don't you just wish that guy would shut up?" Ness asked Jeff.

"Tell me about it. Ugh, he just hasn't shut up for the last five minutes..."

"Anyway, I reckon he's through this door..." Ness said, pointing at the office door next to them.

"You reckon it's that easy?" Jeff questioned.

"Sure, why not?"

"I don't know... just a feeling I'm having... Paula isn't gonna be rejoining us all that soon, I reckon..."

"Eh, whatever. Let's see..."

Ness opened the door to see an alien with one massive central eye, and two more eyes on stalks.

"See? I told you..." Ness said.

The Department Store Spook delivered his pre-battle lines to perfection, and a fight ensued.

Jeff shot his Hyper Beam repeatedly at the Spook, while the Mook cast powerful PSI spells around the two. Ness was alternating between healing and using PSI Rocking. Eventually, the Alien collapsed, and explained, in summary, that their Princess was in another castle.

Jeff was smiling at Ness. "Hey... Ness."

"Yeah?"

"Ness..."

"What?" 

"I was right about something..."

"About what..." 

"You know..."

"Oh, shut up, Jeff. No-one likes a know it all. Okay, you were right. We ain't reuniting with Paula yet. Leave me alone now."

"Not before we trip out in Jackie's café..."

"Trip out? You are kidding me, right?"

"Seriously, that's what I think is gonna happen next."

"Well, I won't question your logic."


	80. 079: Itch

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

079: Itch

New Fassad was smiling boldly, as per usual. He then threw a flea bomb.

Kumatora tried to dive out the way, but the explosive device hit her, and all the tiny bloodsuckers leapt onto her indigo hoodie.

"Ah... wait, what happened?" Kumatora asked.

"I don't know... it kind of seemed like a bomb hit you, but... it hasn't hurt you, has it?" Lucas replies.

"Woof!" Boney said, which probably meant, "It is a mild explosive that contains the Human Flea, Pulex Irritans. However, the Human Flea has several hosts of several species, so I too am affected by them, but no more than you. What use do you reckon Fassad has for these fleas?"

"I don't know, Boney, but thanks for the info. Alright, Kumatora, use PK Thunder!" Lucas commanded.

"You didn't have to tell me that..." Kumatora replied, and shouted, "PK Thu... OH MY GOD IT ITCHES SO MUCH!"

"Wait, what?" Duster asked. As Duster lacked psychic powers, Lucas filled in what Duster missed from Boney.

"Kumatora has fleas." he bluntly said.

"Yeah, and it's affecting my concentration like crazy! Duster, pass me your tickle stick..."

"Why?"

"I'm gonna itch myself, of course!"

Fassad, who was casually floating in the air waiting for them to actually attack him, decided enough was enough. He played a dissonant, staccato tune on his horns.

"Oh? Okay. 'Just get on with attacking me, already. This is tedious. I wish I never threw the damn flea bomb now. Just use regular attacks until you're cured of fleas. Now, lets get on with the fight!' is what Fassad says." Fassad's robotic interpreter translated.

"Okay, Kumatora, do you have enough concentration to punch Fassad?" Duster asked.

"Yeah... I think."

"Well, do that until I get round to healing you..." Lucas said. Boney simply barked in agreement.

So Kumatora leapt into the air, punched New Fassad, and Fassad retaliated with a barrage of laser shots.

Duster, Boney, and Lucas were all hit, and so Duster threw a smoke bomb at the triumphant-looking New Fassad, who proceeded to play 'Cry me a river' on his horns.

Boney fired a pencil rocket at New Fassad, and Lucas rid Kumatora of her fleas.

"Happy now?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, thanks. Okay, here goes... PK THUNDER!"

Electricity shot down upon the already irritated Fassad, which irritated him further. He played a dramatic brass-line, and his interpreter proceeded to say, "'I will not allow you to take my friend's needle while she is sleeping!' is what... wait, I wasn't meant to translate that? I'm sorry."

Fassad bombed the ground that the four heroes were on. He smiled, knowing that this battle would be a difficult, unexpectedly harsh fight indeed.


	81. 080: Part

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

080: Part

As Ninten looked

At the Mountain ahead

Part of him thought

That he'd come back dead

As Ana searched

For her missing hat

Part of her knew

That she would get it back

As Loid was hiding

In a trash can

Part of him wished

He was a greater man

As Teddy recruited

Another gang member

Part of him sighed

As his Mum he remembered

As Ness listened

To the final melody

Part of him cheered

While the past he did see

As Paula waited

In her mountain cabin cell

Part of her doubted

That she'd be treated well

As Jeff fired rockets

At Pokey's floating mech

Part of him desired

A normal, fleshly neck

As Poo meditated

On the meaning of his training

Part of him wondered

If his PSI was waning

And lastly, but by no means least

The writer of this book

Part of him was pondering

How the next chapter will look

Author's note: Shameless self-insert! Sorry, I've been procrastinating this chapter for a while. You know how it is... right?


	82. 081: Parasitic

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

081: Parasitic

Giygas had come to realise that the Devil's machine was not an amazing house of power and might, but a horrific prison of evil. Even though he could access the mind of anyone and anything he desired, and had plenty of power to spare, Giygas could no longer appear physically anywhere. He no longer had the presence of leader, just his own army's presence. No-one dared converse with him face-to-face... because, well, he had no face remaining. However, one child who he had recently recruited seemed all too eager to...

Giygas accessed Pokey's mind. "Pokey... Pokey Minch... can you hear me..."

Pokey heard the familiar terrifying voice of Giygas in his head, and responded in his thoughts, "You don't have to be so formal, Giygas. I thought we were friends..."

"We are... sorry, I've gotten used to opening any thought access session by repeating the subject's name in a mysterious way... it freaks people out and makes them more likely to do as I say..."

"Well, whatever. Say, what did you call me for?" Pokey mentally asked.

"My plan for you is this... there is a girl who lives in Twoson who is a paramount threat to my plans. I need you to go to the village nearby Twoson and convince a religious leader named Mr Carpainter to take his religion a full step further and 'take on' a priestess... either that or make her a ritual sacrifice. I think I'm beyond restraint of bloodshed, so feel free to go for the latter... but..."

"But what?" Pokey responded, not understanding what it was like to have a conscience embedded in such great malevolence.

"Never mind... so, do you understand the task?"

"Yeah... but, how will I convince Carpainter to do as I say?"

"Say that you are the incarnation of blue, the one deserving to be in the role of high priest. I'll back you with my influence, as Carpainter is currently in possession of the Mani Mani Statue."

"Okay. Then as high priest I just... tell him about the girl?"

"Precisely. Um... no, that it is all."

"Hey Giygas..."

"...What?"

"If there's anything other than your plans that you want to talk about, you can just tell me..."

"...uh... no, there's nothing that I need to share with you..."

"...I said want, not need." Pokey thought in a rare moment of kindness.

"...Thank you, Pokey, but no. I feel... that I should let you continue your errands in peace... don't fail me."

And with that, the connection was severed. Giygas couldn't help but feel a little... touched. He had never seen a human so desperate for companionship... and so... willing to comply with his monstrous plan.

Even Giygas couldn't help but think that sentencing all reality to eternal darkness was truly evil and twisted... but this child... was just accepting of it... as if none of it mattered to him. But what remained the largest enigma for Giygas had to be the fact that any human at all could ever wish for friendship with Giygas... it was possible before, when he had his body... but now, friendship was not a possibility. Yet, in this child Giygas had rediscovered friendship, in its most awkward, unsettling, and disturbing form. And, Giygas had to admit, this frightened him.

Because Giygas didn't want anyone becoming too attached to the one that would ultimately destroy him... I mean, Giygas would _never _make the same mistake if he was in that situation...

Author's note: I had to do a chapter that provided introspection on the relationship between Pokey and Giygas. It is, like the Giegue/Giygas transition, is an incredibly interesting aspect of the Mother series.


	83. 082: Ignition

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

082: Ignition

Jeff, Ness and Paula had all started to grow up. Jeff was well into his A-levels, and Ness was in college. Paula had a job as a waitress, and attending a vocational course in childcare (Having experience meant she got on the course flawlessly).

They still maintained a friendship of sorts, and regularly communicated with each other online. Paula still hadn't quite taken to the idea that Ness had a girlfriend other to her, but was fine with it none-the-less.

Jeff had recently bought a game called 'The Day of Sagittarius part III'. It was a strategy game, and all his friends at 6th form had it. Even some of of his enemies had it, which became apparent one particularly cold autumn day...

Jeff entered his 6th form resource centre, and began to read a 'New Scientist' magazine. Jeff always got in early, and today was no exception. He had the whole building to himself. He had the freedom to guffaw loudly at the latest biased experiment to be rejected, and giggle with glee at the fact that 'Neils Bohr Chemistry' was more and more a candidate of scientific rejection.

Then, a schoolmate, Joshua Featherstonehaugh, walked in. His academic prowess surpassed that of Jeff, and, like Jeff, he knew he was intelligent. However, Joshua lacked the understanding Jeff learned to develop over time for people who weren't as smart as himself. And Joshua couldn't stand to be wrong about anything- and Jeff's ability to prove him so was what sparked most of conflicts between these geniuses.

"Hey, Jeff. I hear you have Day of Sagittarius."

"What about it?" Jeff replied from behind his magazine.

"Well, even a loser like you has to have friends, right? Well, gather four of them. I want you to play against me. My team. Of friends."

Jeff deliberated his response. He didn't like Joshua, and Joshua didn't like him. What was the point. Did Josh feel like he'd... be better than Jeff if he won? Regardless of what motives the geek had, Jeff decided there was only one response.

"Sure. When's the competition?"

"On Friday, 6pm. We'll play 'til midnight, and not care because Saturday is the following morning!" Joshua replied in a loud, somewhat overly enthusiastic tone.

Today was Monday, so Jeff didn't have much time to rally a team and practise. Joshua probably played the game daily, but Jeff only played it a little... for fun, like most people who play games do.

After school, Jeff called up the first person who sprang to mind as a friend... Tony.

Tony's mobile phone rang... and after seeing the caller ID, Tony promptly answered.

"Hello, Jeff! My, it's been so long since we last spoke!"

"Tony, we spoke in Chemistry. In fact, we're in every lesson together... it's like you chose the same options as me on purpose or something... anyway, Tony, this is sort of important. You know the Day of Sagittarius?"

Tony stuttered, but quickly recovered, and replied, "Part III? Yeah, I bought it because you were talking about it..."

"Oh, good. Could you help me? You know Joshua... Fan... Feather... you the guy with the long surname? Well, he wants a five-on-five game against me. Do you want in?"

Tony was indescribably happy for reasons Jeff most likely would prefer not to know.

"Sure! I'd love to help you out, Jeff. You want help finding the other team-mates?"

"No, thanks." Jeff replied, and quickly hung up. Jeff shuddered a little.

Tony was a nice guy... but even though Jeff saw him as a friend, he couldn't help but think Tony was a little... too nice.

Jeff soliloquised about the next course of action. "Okay. Now to find three more team-mates... team..." Jeff stopped mid-sentence. His team was always Ness, Paula and Poo. Now, Poo wouldn't have a computer, that was for sure, but Ness and Paula almost definitely had Day of Sagittarius- the game was a bigger hit in Eagleland than it was in Foggyland.

Jeff dialled Ness' number. After three rings, Ness answered.

"Yo, Jeff. How's things?"

"Just grand, thanks. Say, you wouldn't happen to have free time 11 o'clock Friday, would you?"

"AM or PM?"

"AM. You see, something's happening at 6PM Foggyland time, and that is about 11 over there... right?"

"Right. So what's up?"

"Well, you know the Day of Sagittarius?"

"Part III?"

"Yes, Part III. A classmate wants to battle me in it and demands a team of five. You're cool with being member number 3, right?"

"Sure. I guess you want Paula in on it too?"

"You read my mind! Wait, did you actually read my mind?"

"No. Well, do you?"

"Of course! Is she free?"

"She has a three day weekend due to how much hours a day she spends working."

"Okay. Have you?"

"Well... no, but I'll take time off. It's not like I'll miss much. I hate economics. Don't know why I took it..."

"Eh, tons of people take subjects they don't want to..." Jeff could see this conversation turning hour-long, so he had to think of a conversation killer.

"Um... I've got to go... change... the... spark plugs on my Hyper Beam... um... see ya!" Jeff awkwardly concluded.

Ness placed his phone in his pocket, sighing at Jeff's obviously rushed 'goodbye'.

However, Jeff had no time to sigh... he had to think of one more team mate for 'Day of Sagittarius'. He went searching on the internet, and found a forum of people who specialised in... being filler team-mates in online games.

Jeff asked five to join, just in case. Only one replied... a girl named Yuki, apparently. She private-messaged Jeff back with "I shall join your team. I shall help you win.".

Jeff was stoked. Time seemed to gravitate around Friday, and Joshua was edging every word of his conversations towards gaming. This clearly meant much more to Josh than it did to Jeff.

Jeff had a online mic, and was speaking to Ness, Tony, Paula and Yuki via the game.

"Okay. The game starts in... three, two, one."

The game instantly introduced an 'enemy ship' logo, to indicate an opposing team had joined the game. This was going to be a long day...

"Ness, you have scout fleets ready?" Jeff asked.

"Sure, I've sent them out. Paula?"

"Yeah. In fact, I think I've found an enemy ship. Combating." Paula responded.

"Wow, kind of robotic-sounding there, Paula. Are you into this game?" Jeff conversed.

"Not as much as Ness."

"Oh, okay. Yuki, you set up anything."

"I have split my fleet into squadrons. I have almost complete view of the playing field. Jeff, send a fleet eastwards seven degrees five minutes 3 seconds."

"O... kay..." the overwhelmed Jeff replied, and did so. There was an enemy leader ship right in the scout fleet's range.

"Already? Good job, Yuki. Now, time to attack!"

Jeff destroyed the first enemy no problem, and instantly the game turned more and more in their favour. This mysterious girl who Jeff had met online, Yuki, was doing all the work for them.

Ness pondered his next move. "Yuki, any ideas?"

"I have located an enemy fleet in your blind spot. It will destroy you if you do not attack the fleet with a scout. Send your third scout forward five astronomical units."

"Wow... Yuki... you're right. Destroying."

The scout fleets cancelled each other out, and Ness was left blinder than before, but with Yuki scouting, they were unstoppable. Paula, meanwhile, had found an enemy flagship of her own accord with her flagship. She had a good go at it, but ended up dying against the flagship.

"Damn it! Hey, Ness, is there any chance you could kill that guy for me?" Paula said.

"Where is he?"

"Far up front. I know, I made a tactical blunder..."

Tony was remarkably quiet. He was playing, clearly, but for some reason wasn't talking.

"So... Tony, what's up?"

"Um, nothing. Say, who's this Yuki? A... girlfriend?" Tony awkwardly asked.

"No, I met her online. She's only here to play a good game."

"Oh." Tony audibly was relieved.

Yuki piped up. "I have located an enemy fleet nearby to your position, Tony. Destroying with combat fleets."

Tony had just been saved. "Um, thanks... uh, Yuki, is it? Where are you from?"

"You wouldn't have heard of it."

"But I do well in geography..." 

"It does not matter." Yuki matter-of-factly said.

Joshua's fleet was far back in his territory. He was letting the other flagships go out as bait, as if his friends were virtual pawns rather than team-mates.

Ness had an idea. "Jeff... you know how Yuki has squadron mode on?"

"Yeah?"

"How do I..."

"Do not try it." Yuki interrupted. "It is not possible for you to control that many objects in your mind."

"How do you now that? I'm a psychic for god's sake..."

"Regardless, you are human and cannot do it."

"And you're not?" Ness sarcastically replied, although the long pause afterwards seemed to answer the question.

"So, wait... what?" Ness disbelievingly gasped.

Paula was also confused. "Ness... she probably is... it's not exactly impossible to have an alien on this planet, right?"

"I guess. So what species are you? You sound remarkably human..."

"You would not understand. Enemy fleet behind you, thirteen degrees due west."

"Oh, thanks," Ness said, before destroying the fleet. "So, anyway, why wouldn't I understand?"

Tony was listening to possibly the most confusing conversation of the decade.

"Well, I sure as hell don't!" Tony shouted, "Man, an alien? I'm playing... with an alien?"

"Yuki... your profile picture... wasn't you?" Jeff asked.

"It is. I look like a human. But I am not."

"Okay. And you won't tell us your race... because..." Ness continued his curiosity attack.

"...Because the beings who created me are incomprehensible to the human mind. Jeff, turn 1 radian left and fire beam cannon."

"But that's straight into my blind spot... I can't just waste that..."

"Beam cannons are not affected by blind spots. Do it. There is an enemy flagship."

Jeff sighed. "Okay, okay..." and did so. Jeff had to admit, the girl was ingenious. The enemy counter dropped to three.

"Say, Yuki..." Ness incessantly asked, "...if you have your squadrons all split up, why not attack all the enemies now?"

"I enjoy the game more if the game lasts longer than 30 seconds." she promptly replied.

"Oh... well, can you attack your nearest enemy, please?"

"Done." Yuki replied, and destroyed ANOTHER enemy flagship.

Ness still wanted more information, though. "So, any cool devices you aliens have?"

"What is 'cool' in your perception?"

"Things with flashing lights and strange noises!" Ness replied.

"No. We abandon any technology that produces unnecessary noise or light as it wastes potentially useful energy. We have technology with the ability to synchronize two linked parts of time-space. And other technology that is capable of data alteration."

"Like a hacking tool?"

"No."

"...a computer chip?"

"No."

"...a..."

"Stop asked her questions, Ness! Jeez, she may be an alien, but she's a young woman, too! She's probably annoyed to death!" Paula exclaimed, somehow still overhearing the conversation.

"...Sorry..."

"Do not say sorry. You are not sorry." Yuki concluded.

Jeff suddenly shouted, "I'm under attack! Two enemy flagships are pincering me!"

"I have flanked your position." Yuki said, and attacked one ship while Jeff destroyed the other.

"Hey, guys! Um... my fleet's, like, under a massive attack... um... damn, lost it!" Tony informed as Joshua's entire fleet pummelled Tony's.

"The enemy that beat Tony is using a desperate tactic..." Jeff replied. "I think this one's Josh... he's lost all his allies. Oh, well... let's take this guy down!"

Ness asked, "Where is he?"

"35 astronomical units east from your position. I have spread my squadrons in a manner that leaves them unable to pull off large-scale attacks on entire fleets. Jeff is the only one close enough to fight him. He is 4 astronomical units from the enemy's position."

"Okay, then. Entire fleet, east 4 units!"

Now, if this was visualised, Jeff would have had an epic final battle with Joshua. Instead, it ended with Jeff's relatively unharmed fleet attacking Joshua's weakened fleet and a resounding 'You win' message on his computer screen.

Author's note: Good god, this chapter's long! And sorry if you don't like OTT crossovers like that... the internet is a good bridge to parallel worlds in fiction...


	84. 083: Aquatic

100 days of Mother/Earthbound

083: Aquatic

The strange illusionary country of Magicant was home to many an oddity.

Of course, there was the ground-swimming cats, the witch-hatted citizens, and the great benevolent old man... all of these were the normal aspects of Magicant. However, the hidden areas of Magicant, the doorway back into reality... they held the mysterious border-line creatures that lurk between Magicantean and Normality.

The Fish was waiting in his personal pool-pit. An Ulrich was with him.

"Gotta attack Ninten... gotta attack Ninten... gotta attack Ninten..." the blue, floating figure rambled to itself.

The Fish was beyond annoyed. After five more repetitions of "Gotta attack Ninten...", the Fish lost it.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE! I KNOW! YOU'RE AN ENEMY! YOUR PURPOSE IS TO KILL NINTEN! I GET IT! JESUS! IT'S MY PURPOSE TOO, YOU KNOW!"

"But I am the great Ulrich... I am a hard enemy! PK Thunder!" Ulrich declared to prove his competence.

"Well, guess what? I'm a mini-boss. Itoi trusted me to guard the eternally useful Onyx Hook, the most useful item in the game! But you don't see me yakking on about the whole damn killing duty!"

"But..."

"SHUT UP! Why can't you be like the Watchers, Mom's eyes, and Dad's eyes? They don't talk at all, and sometimes they do a better job at killing Ninten than you..."

"The only reason they don't talk is that they have no mouths... they would if they could..."

"Really? Okay, Watcher!" The Fish called. A pair of eyes that looked particularly easy to draw turned around and faced The Fish.

"If you can somehow indicate to me... what do you think of yourself?"

The watcher rolled its eyes, turned around, and continued to roam.

"Hmph! Well, I guess that makes me right!" Ulrich proudly (and unfoundedly) concluded.

"Listen, you thunder-spamming Lakitu rip-off..." The Fish warned, "I'm a mini-boss, and you're a regular enemy. You will be forgotten by the player... me, everyone will remember me. You, you are NOTHING. I am something... you are just another clone waiting to be knocked senseless by Ninten. _I_ am the main attraction of this dungeon. Think of that before you mouth off, you worthless..."

"SHUT UP!" a third, booming, far more intimidating voice interrupted.

"Wh-wh-wh-who said that?" The now cowardly Fish whimpered.

"ME! THE GREAT DRAGON! I AM THE MAIN ATTRACTION OF THIS DUNGEON! NOW BOTH OF YOU STOP ARGUING AND LET ME SLEEP!"

The Fish shook in his pool. "Wh-wh-wh-what does the Dragon look like? I've never seen him 'c-c-c-cos he's around the corner..."

"Scary." Ulrich replied, and stayed quiet. The huge silence that followed seemed to indicate more so that this was the case.

"I guess we should both just shut up, then..." The Fish finished.


End file.
